The Summit Board of County Commissioners reviewed a proposed microtransit pilot program Tuesday, Oct. 8, but plan to review the costs of financing the program before moving forward.

Summit County transportation director Chris Lubbers told the commissioners at their meeting Tuesday that the county began looking into microtransit back in 2021 before completing a study last year that determined it would be feasible locally.

The county then hired Via Transportation to help design a microtransit system for Summit County, Lubbers said. He said the pilot program could potentially be ready to implement as soon as November or December.

Sebastian Loria, an employee at Via, told the commissioners that the main purpose of microtransit is to connect people to the existing bus routes or other parts of the community.

“So, what does that actually look like for our residents or our employees trying to get around Summit County? It’s quite straightforward,” Loria said. “So residents, employees, visitors, can use their smartphone, or place a call if they don’t have a smartphone, to hail that shared ride and be connected to the fixed bus routes or other parts of the county.”

The company’s app would allow riders to request a ride, review route options and track their ride in real time, Loria said. It would also group riders with similar destinations traveling in the same area, he said.

The microtransit vehicle, typically a minivan, will then pick up the riders at a designated curb stop — meaning they might have to walk a block or two — and connect them to the existing Summit Stage bus network, Loria said. Door-to-door service is available for those who need wheelchair access as well as other designated riders, he said.

Microtransit can solve the “first mile, last mile,” problem by helping connect travelers that might otherwise travel by single-passenger vehicle to the existing bus routes, Loria said. He did not say how much micro-transit service would cost but did note that costs could vary depending on the type of user.

“When deployed properly, microtransit makes your entire transit system overall more efficient, and it does that by expanding public transit access to areas that were previously unserved,” Loria said. “Folks can get to the fixed routes that are (otherwise) too far away. So by expanding microtransit, you’re bringing more people into the overall system.”

The period of the proposed pilot program in Summit County has not yet been defined, but the program as proposed would include three zones encompassing Frisco, Breckenridge and a combined Silverthorne and Dillon zone, Loria said. The microtransit service would operate seven days a week from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. under the proposed pilot program, he said.

In the first year of the pilot program, costs would not exceed $4.5 million, Loria said. The contract with Via Transportation would have to be renewed every year and has a 90 day termination clause, according to county officials.

Loria noted that the microtransit program and the county’s overall transportation system could be tweaked to become more efficient as the program evolves.

“This being a pilot approach to microtransit, we’re constantly looking at the data,” Loria said. “We’re going to be constantly surveying the community as well to get feedback to be able to make any changes that might be cost saving or provide better service for different groups around the county as we go throughout this pilot.”

Commissioner Nina Waters raised questions about why the Summit Cove neighborhood was not included in the initial pilot program.

County transportation department staff responded that while Summit Cove was identified in a study as an area that would benefit from microtransit, it doesn’t have the density and is not as transit dependent as other areas. Staff said that Swan Meadow Village, one of the more transit-dependent parts of Summit Cove also just received a new bus stop, but added that they expect that Summit Cove would eventually receive microtransit.

Waters also raised concern about how people would get ahold of the microtransit service if there was no cell service.

Loria said that drivers will quickly get to know the community, including typical riders and where people get picked up and dropped off. In extreme circumstances, like a snowstorm or other event that results in no cell service, walkie-talkie radios, standard pickup points or other strategies could be deployed, he said.

“If cell service is completely out, we have operational backup plans to make sure that we are kind of just being all over a service zone,” Loria said.

Waters asked if the microtransit operation would have the ability to prioritize, for example, a local worker who is late for work over a tourist who is visiting.

Loria said that there are a “lot of different ways we can configure pricing,” so that an employee trying to get to and from a bus station might have some fees waived, while a nominal fee might be charged to tourists using the service.

Commissioner Eric Mamula said that he believes “the most important thing is getting cars off the road. That’s the No. 1 priority.”

Commissioner Tamara Pogue said she would like more information on the financial impacts of the microtransit pilot and program before moving forward. Pogue said she thinks the county should have a “long-term financial plan” before moving forward “so that the community doesn’t come to rely on something and then problems develop later down the road.”

Back in 2022, Summit County officials went to see Park City, Utah’s microtransit system. That program had people book rides through an app to have minivans pick them up between 6:30 a.m. and 12 a.m. The Park City Council, though, discontinued the program after a yearlong pilot, citing unsatisfactory service, high costs of $1.5 million annually and unreliability.

Summit County Director of Finance David Reynolds told the commissioners that the transit fund currently has about $35 million in reserves, though a significant expenditure of about $13 million is expected next year for a new transit facility.

Reynolds estimated that the county could run a microtransit program costing about $5 million annually for about three years before another revenue source for the program would have to be found.

“So it could go on for a couple years,” Reynold said, “but there isn’t enough ongoing revenue to support the current operation, plus microtransit, and break even.”