Denton County Transportation Authority offers a wide variety of services, but is best known for its fixed-route Connect Bus, the 21-mile A-train line, and GoZone, an on-demand rideshare service for certain zones in Denton County.

The organization is looking for feedback from the community to bring back to DCTA board members about Connect Bus and GoZone services, said Pamela Burns, Director of Public Involvement and Communications. Connect Bus, also known as Denton Connect, is a local fixed-route service that operates Monday-Saturday in Denton.

Burns said DCTA is engaging with the public through different avenues including virtual town hall meetings and in-person meetings, and will also be at upcoming community events like Colorpalooza. In addition, community members can go to DCTA’s website to fill out a feedback survey form and put suggestions and comments on the Ideas Wall.

Those who fill out the survey will be entered into a drawing to win one of three $100 gift cards.

Burns said the goal is to compile the feedback into a presentation for the DCTA board to help them make future decisions about the services DCTA offers.

“This is a first step in engaging in some more robust public involvement moving forward,” Burns said. “We want to hear what’s working and what’s not working, and really get in touch with the community.”

DCTA is collecting feedback through May 17 and will present finalized information to the board on June 23. Burns said the earliest any decisions could be made would be June 23, but the DCTA does not anticipate any changes going into effect before Oct. 1.

Burns said part of the reason for reaching out to the community for feedback is the change in ridership and ridership patterns due to the impact of COVID-19 and GoZone.

GoZone is an on-demand, microtransit ridershare service operated through an app, Burns said. Passengers can enter their starting and ending location and the app will direct them to a virtual “bus stop” as a pickup location, usually just a short walk away. She emphasized that the service is still a transit service and may pick up or drop off passengers on the way to a final destination.

“GoZone has led to increased ridership and this rich ridership data has opened an opportunity for DCTA to reevaluate our system holistically and improve access to the system as well as make our systems more efficient,” Burns said.

Community members and users of DCTA services can provide feedback about the Connect Bus and GoZone on the DCTA website or connect with representatives of the organization at meetings or community events.

Burns said the goal of this project is to start an open conversation with DCTA service users.

“We will get in touch with people again and give them an update on how their comments and feedback are being implemented,” Burns said. “We want this to be the start of an ongoing dialogue between DCTA and the community we serve.”

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