Hill Country Transit reports rising ridership, proposes Phase 2 expansion without additional city subsidy

Raymond Suarez, general manager of the Hill Country Transit District, told the Killeen City Council on Oct. 21 that the district’s ridership and customer-satisfaction scores have increased since the revised service launched in September 2024, and recommended a Phase 2 expansion that he said would not require additional city funds for fiscal year 2026.

Suarez said the regional system carried about 140,000 passengers before the relaunch; in the first nine months after the September 2024 start the district logged about 156,000 rides and reported a customer-satisfaction index near 94.4 percent. He said average in-vehicle time is roughly 15.5 minutes and average trip distance about 4.7 miles, and that about 70 percent of riders now use the automated trip‑booking app.

The Phase 2 area Suarez described would add roughly 2.1 square miles on Killeen’s south side (roughly from South Clear Creek Road toward Rockwall Drive and…