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Hill Country Transit District tells council new microtransit, commuter and tech upgrades are raising ridership; regional expansion due March 1
Summary
Hill Country Transit District presented a progress report on a restructured regional transit model that combines commuter service, microtransit and rural feeds; officials said technology and a March 1 integration of rural routes have produced measurable ridership growth.
Tony Austin, director of rural operations for Hill Country Transit District, briefed council on Feb. 18 on a multi‑year restructuring that aims to combine commuter, microtransit and rural services under a single regional model.
Austin said the district moved from an older fixed‑route model to a streamlined map that centers a commuter line through Temple with a 20‑minute headway and integrates smaller vehicles for local runs. He said March 1 will bring rural feeds from Lampasas, Milam County (Cameron, Rockdale) and Gatesville into the commuter/microtransit network.
Why it matters: The presentation described both safety and service rationales for the change and emphasized that the district is pursuing technology, vendor partnerships and flexible service options (including an Uber contract for gap trips) to reduce wait times and cancellations.
Key points from the presentation: - The district consolidated operations under a single operations director and is shifting fleet mix toward smaller Ford Transit/Dodge ProMaster vehicles for cost and routing flexibility. - The commuter route is now served by six staggered vehicles on a roughly 20‑minute frequency; staff said that change dramatically reduced prior long waits (previously as long as 1–2 hours on some patterns). - The system reported a ridership increase of about 48 percent between September and December (district‑wide metric presented by staff) and steady growth in on‑time performance. A pool of Uber trips is used as a contracted gap‑filling service during peaks. - A suite of technology and operational upgrades has been implemented over the past year, including new dispatching and customer apps, tighter reporting and efforts to standardize rules across urban and rural services.
Austin said the district is working governance and county agreements that will reduce the number of participating counties from nine and realign partners; he described that process as near completion. He also said the district is pursuing vanpool and Transportation Management Association arrangements to serve large employers and industrial customers.
City questions and next steps: Council asked about bus shelters that were removed; staff said shelters are being inventoried and a disposition plan will be presented at a future board meeting. Austin said the district will present more regular, quarterly summaries to councils and stakeholders and invited local officials to attend board meetings as the district finalizes its operational redesign.
The presentation was informational; no council action was required.
