Mayor outlines one-year on-demand "Link" pilot; town share about $400,000

Mayor Jason Gray told the Planning Commission the town is preparing a one-year pilot of an on-demand microtransit service called Link, operated through Via, and that the town's contribution would be about $400,000. "It's $400,000 for the town of Castle Rock," Gray said during his liaison update.

Gray said the pilot would initially operate only inside Castle Rock and be free for rides within town limits; officials would evaluate results over a year. He described usage patterns from other communities, saying about 40% of trips were first/last-mile to transit and roughly 60% were for general errands. Gray noted Lone Tree reported an average wait time of about 12 minutes and said Douglas County has reported a possible 3'4x ROI in some evaluations, while cautioning ROI measurement is imperfect and often anecdotal. The mayor said expansion to connect to regional light-rail or neighboring towns would be a later discussion and depends on regional agreements and logistics.

Town staff described the pilot cost as part of a larger program budget in the low single millions; Gray said the town will run the pilot for a year to see whether to continue funding it. Commission members asked for more information on geographic coverage and interjurisdictional connections; Gray and staff indicated initial deployment will focus on in-town service with potential future interconnections to adjacent jurisdictions if negotiated.