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Council weighs HRT FY27 requests, microtransit tradeoffs and Route 33 restoration
Summary
City staff sought reinstatement of a resort circulator and other route pilots but HRT cited driver shortages; staff also flagged a Route 33 reduction that affected worker commutes and presented a choice on renewing a Bayside microtransit TRIP grant that carries increasing local matches in later years.
Planning Director Kathy Warren and Comprehensive Planning Administrator Hank Morrison briefed council on Virginia Beach’s FY27 Transportation Service Plan negotiations with Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) and requested direction on several items.
Morrison said HRT’s draft TSP would raise the city’s FY27 TSP cost to about $9.5 million (up roughly $950,000 from FY26) because of added service hours and a new collective‑bargaining agreement. Staff requested three changes: reinstatement of a Route 34 resort circulator, a seasonal express to the airport and a new route serving the Amazon ORF‑4 facility on Dam Neck. HRT indicated it could not accommodate the circulator or airport express because of a driver shortage but will operate the Amazon route funded by the regional transit fund with no additional city contribution required.
Staff also flagged that last year’s shortening of Route 33 limited North End workforce access; staff requested a cost estimate to reinstate the route’s original terminus at 68th Street so council can decide whether to include that change in the FY27 TSP. Council members pressed for a quote and discussed whether private sector partnerships or a citywide microtransit strategy could be alternatives.
On the Bayside microtransit pilot, Morrison said reapplying for the state TRIP grant would require approximately $700,000 in local funds for the coming year with a phased local match that rises over successive years (20% initially, increasing thereafter). Several council members cautioned that microtransit’s rising local match and driver shortage make long‑term sustainability and equity across districts a concern; staff said a city RFP for microtransit options is in development and that the hard deadline for TSP changes is Feb. 13.
Council directed staff to seek cost estimates for Route 33 reinstatement and to return with analysis on microtransit tradeoffs, including long‑term local match obligations and potential alternatives.
