Macon-Bibb County Transit Authority set to launch door-to-door rapid transit next week

Residents will order rides through the smartphone and tablet app Rides on Demand, taking them to various stops along Macon's downtown business district, Shirley Hills, Gray Highway, and Ingleside areas by way of van.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Over the past several months, the Macon-Bibb County Transit Authority (MTA) has tested a new ride-sharing style transit option through an app similar to Uber and Lyft. After a successful pilot, MTA leaders say the rapid transit program will officially launch next Monday.

“We were doubling the growth every month,” said Markham Strozier, Transit Planner for MTA.  “It’s kind of incredible.”

Residents will order rides through the smartphone and tablet app Rides on Demand, taking them to various stops along Macon’s downtown business district, Shirley Hills, Gray Highway, and Ingleside areas by way of van. Strozier says this will help MTA modernize its services.

“The trend in microtransit is to be an ancillary to fixed route and paratransit services, being able to go where the larger buses can’t go in order to get people to their destinations,” Strozier said.

Strozier says expansion of the program will be contingent upon how well it’s received and how MTA is able to respond to the growth.

“We’re going to be in zone 1 from now until the middle of December,” Strozier said. “We’re going to advance down into South Bibb around the airport, and then eventually, within the next couple of hours, would like to roll out across the county.”

Strozier says riders will be charged $5 for one-way rides from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m., and $8 from 6 until 11:30 p.m. starting on Monday.