Alamance County Transportation Authority wins grant, plans microtransit service in Graham and Haw River

Peter Murphy, executive director of the Alamance County Transportation Authority, told the Board of Commissioners on Sept. 2 that the agency received grant funding to replace its scheduling software and will launch microtransit service this fall.

"We transport over 66,000 passenger trips. Our growth rate this year was 13% over last year," Murphy said, and described a grant identified in the meeting as the "Me Grama Mobility for Everyone Everywhere" program that paid for a new software platform.

Murphy said the software will let riders track vehicles on their phones, receive next-day and 15-minute pickup notifications by phone or text, and book same-day trips within microtransit zones. The authority plans the software to be fully in place Sept. 15 and to start microtransit zones Oct. 1 in Graham and Haw River; Mebane service is planned to start Jan. 1.

The service will operate in defined zones and connect to the authority's main campus, the Dillingham Center, Walmart, Graham Hopedale and other locations. Murphy said the grant covers the software purchase and that one-way rides in the pilot zones will cost $2 and be paid for with federal and state funds.

Commissioner Thompson said she had heard about the project at a senior services committee meeting and welcomed the change, noting the service's door-to-door capability for veterans and other riders. "I'll still never understand why ACTA isn't the bus service for Alamance County because you go to the door, not the bus stop," she said.

Murphy said the authority had designed the pilot to allow riders to connect with other transportation services and emphasized that the first phase will operate inside the named zones with expanded service in later phases.

The board did not take a vote on the presentation; the item was delivered during the public comment portion of the meeting.