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City County Transportation presents relaunch; council had Ecolane and three-bus purchases on consent
Summary
City County Transportation staff described service changes, ridership gains and plans for new scheduling software (Ecolane) and three buses funded via a TxDOT grant; procurement for software and buses were on and approved in the consent agenda.
City County Transportation staff reintroduced their operation and outlined plans to expand efficiency and customer access.
Mr. Boonstrait introduced AJ, the system manager, who detailed ridership and operations. AJ said the service is demand-response (door-to-door), operates Monday–Friday 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. with limited Saturday service, and serves primarily elderly and disabled riders: "68 percent of all of our trips are attributed to elderly and disabled," he said. AJ reported an 8.4% year-over-year ridership increase for FY25 (about 1,700 additional trips) and a recent monthly increase of roughly 37% year over year.
AJ described operational improvements: expanded countywide service hours, targeted coordination with medical providers and dialysis schedules, and staff training. He emphasized technology upgrades: the agency plans to procure new transit scheduling software (Ecolane) to replace aging 2009-era software, adding a mobile app and web portal for riders and improved analytics. AJ said TxDOT awarded a grant for three new buses and that staff will pursue the software solicitation this cycle.
Two related contract and procurement items were listed on the meeting’s consent agenda (authorization for Ecolane software and purchase of three Ford buses funded via grant/participating-city contributions) and were approved along with the other consent-agenda items.
Council members thanked AJ and his staff for their service to vulnerable residents and encouraged the agency to pursue rebranding and outreach to boost ridership and awareness.
No separate vote beyond the consent vote was taken; staff will proceed with procurement and city-specific presentations to partner councils as planned.
