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City staff propose $3 fare for Lawrence Transit On Demand as grant funding ends; survey open through Nov. 2
Summary
Transit staff told the advisory board they plan to propose a $3 per-trip fare for the city—s on-demand microtransit service after pilot grant funding ends. Staff said the fare would primarily cover app and payment technology costs and that a detailed survey report will be delivered to the board before a November vote.
City transit staff told the Connected City Advisory Board on Oct. 20 that they plan to propose a $3-per-trip fare for Lawrence Transit On Demand when existing pilot grant funds expire next year.
"So we are proposing a $3 fare for our Lawrence transit on demand," the presenter said, explaining the proposal is meant to cover the technology and transaction costs of the app-based service as grant funding for the pilot winds down. The on-demand service operates when fixed-route buses do not run (overnight and Sunday service) and was created to connect workers, including third-shift employees, to jobs and other essential trips.
Staff described operational data including an approximately 8% no-show rate — equivalent to nearly 400 trips per month that could be used by other riders — and a wide range of cost per passenger depending on trip grouping and demand. Staff said some on-demand trips can cost the city up to about $40 per passenger, and that the $3 fare is not expected to fully recover operating subsidy but would cover the app and payment platform costs under a conservative scenario.
The proposed fare would be collected through the on-demand app (Spare wallet/Stripe integration), staff said, and the fixed-route and complementary paratransit services are proposed to remain fare-free in 2026. Transit staff said the survey on Lawrence Listens is open through Nov. 2 and will be summarized for the board at its next meeting; they also said the app will show a notification and make the survey available to riders.
Board members asked for cross-tabulations showing how frequently current users ride the on-demand service and how many would decline to use it if a $3 fare were implemented. Staff said they can pull trip-level data (origin/destination, time, frequency) from the vendor platform and will return with a detailed analysis and the survey results to help quantify impacts on work trips and repeat riders.
What happened next: staff will present a formal recommendation and survey analysis to the board in November before asking the board to take a position on the proposed fare change. Fixed-route service would remain fare-free in 2026 under the current staff proposal.
