Hampton Roads Transit plans to study cutting underused bus routes and stops due to rising costs and a driver shortage, transit leaders told the Norfolk City Council Tuesday.
However, they said the routes could be replaced by an on-demand rideshare system currently being piloted in two Hampton Roads cities.
"Our concept here is: How can we use the very limited resources, best use those to reduce or modify low ridership local bus service and reinvest those dollars and resources in routes that are high ridership demand?" said Hampton Roads Transit President and CEO William Harrell during a work session Tuesday.
Harrell said the coronavirus pandemic had profoundly affected the transit agency, along with most others in large and medium-sized U.S. cities. Remote work changed commuter behavior, with many only visiting the office a few days a week at most. The system is also experiencing a bus driver shortage and facing rising costs.
So, the agency plans to spend the next few months determining how to allocate current resources to service the most in-demand routes and stops. That might mean closing or modifying bus routes and replacing them with an on-demand rideshare service, said Ray Amoruso, chief planning and development officer.
"We have 69 bus routes today that service the six member cities," Amoruso said. "That's a lot of service, but not all of them are productive."
For Norfolk, the change could also mean combining two routes that are very close to one another or adjust the hours at which busses run, Amoruso said.
The study has initially proposed eliminating Route 11 in Norfolk, which carries riders from downtown to Colonial Place, and replacing it with on-demand rideshare, he said. Agency documents show five proposed microtransit service areas in Norfolk, including one in Colonial Place, one on the border with Virginia Beach, one in South Norfolk on the border with Chesapeake, one along Ingleside and Broad Creek, and another in Norview.
The agency has already debuted an on-demand rideshare system similar to Uber or Lyft in Newport News and Virginia Beach. Called Hampton Roads Transit OnDemand, users can request a minivan ride in specific operational zones for $2 per person per ride.
Amoruso said after the changes are implemented, 80% of Norfolk riders will still be within a five-minute walk of a bus stop. He said stops proposed to be eliminated have an average of just five passengers or less.
Hampton Roads Transit is financed through member cities, regional funding, operating revenue, state funding and federal funding, according to its website.
The agency will meet with other city governments this year and complete public outreach in mid-2025, making a final recommendation in September.
City Council member Andria McClellan agreed with the plan.
"We need to be going where people are and providing the best services that we can with limited resources," she said.