Greenway Public Transportation touts ridership gains, asks counties to sustain local match for fare-free service
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Summary
Greenway Public Transportation presented data showing increased ridership after a temporary fare-free policy and described service types, funding sources and a request that local governments continue matching funds to sustain flex and microtransit services.
Michael Bowman, executive director of Greenway Public Transportation, briefed the Board of Commissioners on July 21 about the agency’s four-county operations and results from recent service changes in Burke County.
Bowman described three service types the agency runs in Burke County: demand-response (advance-booked paratransit), a FlexRoute loop serving Morganton and a same-day microtransit service. He said Greenway provides more than 13,000 trips per year in Burke County and that typical funding mixes are roughly 50% federal and state grants, 25% from Greenway and 25% from local governments for FlexRoute and microtransit operations.
Bowman told commissioners the agency has seen ridership rise markedly after testing a fare-free month for the FlexRoute. “Going fare free doubled our ridership for the flex route,” Bowman said, noting the route’s monthly ridership rose from 363 to 788 and later to 1,115 in May after continued adjustments.
Bowman outlined an operational analysis that recommended longer hours, route changes and technology investments. He demonstrated new automatic passenger counters and a rider-facing app that will show stop locations, vehicle positions and capacity in real time. He said that microtransit trips cost $2.50 per trip to riders and that the agency has expanded from one to three microtransit vehicles to meet demand.
Commissioners asked about rider demographics and vehicle types. Bowman said roughly half of microtransit requests are medical trips, about 20% are workforce related and about 30% are for general errands. He said the fleet includes ADA‑compliant transit vans and larger buses used on other county routes, and that Greenway provides transportation support during local emergencies such as the Grace Heights evacuation.
The board accepted Bowman’s report as presented by motion and vote.
Provenance: Presentation and Q&A appear under the “presentations” agenda item for Greenway Public Transportation; Bowman’s ridership numbers and funding mix were cited in the slides and discussion.
Ending: Bowman said Greenway will continue to seek local matches for FlexRoute and microtransit operations and to use tech upgrades to guide route redesigns; no county funding commitment was made at the meeting.
