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Hampton Roads Transit proposes cutting two low-ridership Virginia Beach routes, expanding microtransit
Summary
Hampton Roads Transit told Virginia Beach council it plans to eliminate two underperforming local routes and add microtransit zones to preserve access, citing operator shortages and a goal of reallocating service toward 15‑minute regional backbone routes.
Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) officials briefed the Virginia Beach City Council on a proposed System Optimization Plan that would eliminate two low‑ridership local bus routes in the city and replace them with demand‑responsive microtransit zones while shifting resources to higher‑ridership regional backbone service.
"The system optimization plan by its very nature is looking how HRT can put its limited resources to the best use by reducing low ridership local bus service and reinvesting those savings in routes with high ridership demand," Ray Amoroso, HRT chief planning and development officer, said during the work session. He told council HRT is constrained by both money and a shortage of bus operators.
Amoroso said HRT currently is short roughly 50 bus operators on a typical day compared with pre‑pandemic staffing and would need about 45 more operators to fully implement the regional transit service (RTS) backbone identified in state legislation. "Just this past June 2025, we missed approximately 1,200 trips that month due to operator unavailability," he said, adding that missed trips undermine reliability for riders.
To address that gap, HRT's draft recommendations would optimize or eliminate 12 underperforming local routes across the six member cities it serves, two of which are in Virginia Beach. The plan would reduce roughly 90,000 local service hours systemwide and free about 65 operator positions, officials said, enabling faster roll‑out of the 15‑minute regional backbone routes.
In Virginia Beach, Amoroso identified two local routes proposed for elimination. He recommended replacing the Route 22 corridor with a microtransit zone that has operated in the city under a trip grant pilot and proposing the removal of Route 26 because of low ridership on its convoluted alignment around the TCC and Lynnhaven Mall area. "We believe looking at demand on microtransit, we can better serve this community by maintaining microtransit, eliminating the Route 22," Amoroso said.
HRT presented cost comparisons from pilots: microtransit delivered weekday service at about $69 per service hour versus roughly $124 per hour for fixed‑route revenue service. Amoroso said microtransit provides more frequent opportunities (every 15 minutes within a zone) but may require transfers for trips that leave a zone.
Council members pressed HRT on outreach to military installations and campuses affected by the changes. "Will you be reaching out to the base Little Creek and making sure we've still got adequate service connecting our service members to the base?" Council member Josh asked. Amoroso replied, "Absolutely," saying the Navy and other military partners will be included in outreach and coordination.
HRT reiterated that the SOP is a draft designed to right‑size the system to operator availability, improve reliability, and qualify the region for better state funding by improving productivity metrics. Officials plan additional briefings to other member cities, public open houses on the draft recommendations, and a schedule that aims for commission adoption in April with phased implementation beginning in 2026.
The city manager and council members said they welcomed the briefing and requested follow‑up outreach with local institutions (including the TCC Virginia Beach campus) and the Navy. HRT will refine its plan after public comment and return with final recommendations before any formal service reductions are implemented.
