According to Assistant Director of Transportation Shawn Davis, the city of Conroe has had a partnership with MTM Transit since 2015. The transit company, Davis said, is used to hire drivers, train the drivers and learn the city's vehicles. Davis said the city owns all the vehicles and infrastructure but uses MTM to conduct operations.
Davis said by moving the transit operations in-house, it will be up to the city to oversee aspects of all operations, from hiring drivers to training the drivers and complying with federal regulations. In order to transition, Conroe City Council approved extending the contract between the city and MTM Transit to provide staff with enough time to hire operators and implement the on-demand model.
The $173,140 contract extension was approved with the understanding $102,704 would be reimbursable to the city through grant reimbursement, leaving $70,436 up to the city. It was not immediately clear how the city would fund its portion.
"I think everything is moving to a service," Council Member Harry Hardman said in a March 29 interview. "I think transportation needs to be like that as well. ... I think we have an opportunity to take a step back; taking things in-house is going to save us money as the people driving for us are our employees so we will have more flexibility there."
