Fort Mill business group proposes Freebee microtransit pilot, asks town for up to $200,000 in support

Fort Mill Economic Partners asked the Fort Mill Town Council to support a one-year microtransit pilot that would use Freebee-branded, electric, on‑demand vehicles to provide door‑to‑door trips among Baxter Village, Kingsley and downtown Fort Mill.

The pilot proposed by Mariah Price, Fort Mill Economic Partners executive, and David Buse, a board director and project liaison, would run primarily Thursday through Sunday and use three vehicles. Price said the pilot’s budget is $407,000 for the year and that the group expects roughly a $200,000 contribution from the town, plus additional commitments from businesses and the county. Riders would pay a nominal fare — Price said about $2 per trip — and the vendor would supply branded vehicles, driver hiring and operational management.

The presentation emphasized data collection and economic development. “We want to collect and analyze ridership data to evaluate demand, optimize service, and assess the impact of microtransit,” Mariah Price said, adding that Freebee provides a live data dashboard showing ridership, trip origins/destinations and vehicle occupancy. David Buse said the vendor partners with local businesses through the app and that the technology supports advertising and event promotion to drive customer traffic.

Presenters said the pilot would be limited to a mapped service area in order to control initial costs; that map includes the three core lifestyle districts and nearby hotels and the hospital. It would operate as a curb-to-curb service within the map and aims for a typical wait of about 10 minutes. The vendor will own the vehicles, presenters said, and Fort Mill would need to provide charging infrastructure: presenters estimated three to four destination‑level chargers and described each unit as a modest cost to install.

Council members asked technical and operational questions: whether service would run during special events, how pickup boundaries are defined and driver hiring standards. Price and Buse cited examples from South Park (the “South Park Skipper”) and Ballantyne as local deployments Freebee has supported and noted those programs saw rapid rider growth in the first months.

Next steps in the presentation were a request for the town to take a position of support prior to a county meeting in August and an ask that the council consider contributing to the pilot budget. A council member asked staff to place the microtransit pilot on the next council agenda so the community could comment before a formal vote. No formal vote on funding or an agreement occurred at the meeting.