Waiting for the bus to make its way to your fixed-route stop could soon be a thing of the past in Peoria.
CityLink is studying the possibilities around adopting microtransit. Conceptually, microtransit would allow passengers in certain fixed "zones" to pick up their phone, open an app, and schedule a ride to pick them up.
CityLink general manager Doug Roelfs said the study is still in its final stages. He envisions a vehicle smaller than a fixed-route bus, but larger than a standard taxi cab, shuttling four to five people around at a time.
"We call it like, Uber on steroids, for the public transit side anyway," Roelfs said.
Originally, Roelfs said the concept revolved around the concept of "first mile, last mile:" filling gaps in the existing transit network. The idea of microtransit grew after CityLink contracted with a company called Via.
Roelfs said optimally, the shared shuttle would pick up passengers five to 20 minutes after it is summoned. Focus groups note a caveat with the zone concept, however.
"So for example, the customer lives in Averyville, and they want to go to the Kroger on Lake. Well, that was outside the zone. And we've pointed out, well, you can go to East Peoria to Walmart. 'Well, we don't want to go there, we, you know, we're used to shopping here, we want to go here,' Roelfs said of the feedback received.
That might mean expanding the zones to accommodate those needs, or the person may need to opt for a fixed-route bus running on an hourly rotation.
Still, Roelfs said he's excited by the possibilities.
"It's a little more tailored to the person's needs. Instead of them hitting a fixed route bus on our designated schedule, we'd come pick them up on their schedule," he said. "So it would still be a shared service and still be riding with other people."
