Updated 1:30 p.m. Dec. 6: This story has been updated with additional details about the Mountain Lynx service and the grant amount.
Mountain Lynx Transit will continue to offer free rides to its passengers in four towns and five counties in Southwest Virginia.
The zero-fare program was one of 15 projects approved by the Commonwealth Transportation Board for a total of $4.4 million funded through the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation’s Transit Ridership Incentive Program, or TRIP. The projects will enhance the experience of riders, improve bus stops and safety, according to a news release from the department.
Mountain Lynx will receive $56,000 for fiscal year 2024 and there is a local match of $14,000. The hope is the free rides will continue. TRIP projects for zero fare span four years with a total cost of $280,000. In the fourth year, the transits are expected to provide zero fare and cover the full cost themselves.
Mountain Lynx serves Abingdon, Galax, Marion and Wytheville and the counties of Bland, Carroll, Grayson, Smyth, Washington and Wythe, an area with high poverty, the release states.
“The elimination of fares for Mountain Lynx riders removes a major obstacle for many riders and creates the opportunity for transportation for low-income people,” the release states.
At the start of the COVID pandemic, Mountain Lynx, and two-thirds of the state’s 40 transit agencies, went zero fare and Mountain Lynx used money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act and the American Rescue Plan Act. With that funding running out, it applied for the TRIP money to continue offering free rides, according to Amy Friedenberger, manager of external affairs for the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.
The number of passengers using Mountain Lynx dropped during the pandemic but has improved, Friedenberger said. In fiscal year 2019, before the pandemic, ridership was 167,763 passengers. The number dipped in fiscal year 2021, during the height of the pandemic, to 118,746, but rebounded during fiscal year 2023, which ended June 30, to 162,649 passengers.
The following projects were also approved, according to the news release:
- Arlington Regional Transit will receive funding to construct a new bus stop and Americans with Disabilities Act improvements to three bus stops. This grant will allow the county to use on-call contractors to immediately address accessibility issues.
- Bristol Virginia Transit will install security cameras on six transit buses and one passenger van. Currently, none has security cameras. A new bus shelter at an existing transit stop will also be added.
- Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission will rehabilitate the BRITE Transit Hub, which involves defining a separate bus lane and vehicle parking, assure ADA-compliant access to bus loading areas, relocate bus shelters adjacent to bus parking, and outfit each with safety lighting and bike racks.
- The city of Alexandria will provide shelters, benches and real-time signs at a planned transit center in the West End development. The transit center is a high-ridership transfer hub for local and regional bus service and will act as a major hub for two planned bus rapid transit networks.
- Greater Richmond Transit Company will make bus stop improvements in Richmond and Chesterfield County to enhance ADA accessibility and test new text-to-speech technology.
- Hampton Roads Transit will improve shelters and amenities at three existing ferry stops. It will also receive funding to improve rider amenities at 22 stops across the system and install driver safety barriers on 155 buses.
- Petersburg Area Transit will hire three security officers and install a new security camera system to monitor PAT’s downtown multimodal center.
- Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission will build a new bus shelter at an existing Roanoke County bus stop.
- Williamsburg Area Transit Authority will outfit six buses with new security cameras.
