The Ride Circuit app now offers a free on-demand shuttle service in Downtown Houston.
Due to a more than $1 million agreement between the Harris County METRO Transit Authority and the organization Evolve Houston, the service was already offered in the Second and Third Wards. The current contract covers the downtown expansion.
The service is meant to increase the transit authority’s “microtransit” offerings, according to METRO Board Chair Elizabeth Brock.
“It s first-and-last mile, but it s also curb-to-curb,” Brock stated. “So, if you re within a three-to-five-mile radius, and it s too far to walk or too far to get to where you need to be in terms of getting to the library or getting to your doctor s appointment or catching transit this will help connect you.”
With the relocation to downtown, METRO is utilizing microtransit in a densely populated area for the first time.
“This is a little bit different because it is servicing people in a very dense area,” Brock stated. “But even in our dense areas, we re very vast and so people walk sometimes 10-15 blocks just to get to a bus, shelter or bus stop or rail, and so this really helps connect people to transit when there s just a long distance, particularly in our inclement weather.”
In June 2023, the shuttle service was introduced in Third Ward, and in December 2023, it was introduced in Second Ward.
In 2025, the service expansion will spread to additional regions, according to Casey Brown, executive director of the nonprofit organization Evolve Houston.
“We’ve got a few zones under evaluation,” stated Brown. “In this pilot, it s important to us that we find zones to test different areas in which value is delivered through this form of microtransit.”
He made it clear that the shuttles are not meant to take the place of fixed-route transit options like light rail and METRO buses. Rather, the goal of the microtransit alternative is to enhance the current infrastructure.
“Every rider sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on a bus started their day in a different spot and had to congregate or make their way to the fixed-route system,” he explained. “These fixed-route mass transit systems do a great job of moving large amounts of people, but we want to help make sure that accessibility into that fixed-route system that those barriers are removed, that we improve accessibility.”
According to Brown, it also aims to close gaps at the “hyperlocal” level by offering curb-to-curb transportation to neighboring places.
New electric cars with climate control, quicker charging periods, and greater operating range will be used for the downtown service.
“These new vehicles will be foundational to opportunities to grow microtransit in the future, and we want to make sure that during this pilot that we re testing things that our riders want across all zones,” Brown stated.
Only three sectors now offer the service: downtown, Second Ward, and Third Ward. To request free on-demand rides, riders can download the Ride Circuit app.
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