North Carolina Fuels a Microtransit Revolution

Public, on-demand ridesharing networks revitalize travel in exurban communities.

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The eastern North Carolina towns of Smithfield and Selma are just close enough to Raleigh and the I-95 corridor to find themselves in the middle of a population boom. Together, the two towns have nearly 19,000 residents. But in just two years, Selma’s population had increased by about 8 percent to 6,806, and Smithfield’s by roughly 7 percent to 12,129. So Johnston County Area Transit System (JCATS) stepped up its public-transportation offerings between the two areas.

While large fixed-route systems work well for densely populated cities and urban areas, on-demand microtransit can benefit residents in exurbs like Smithfield and Selma that blend forests and produce and livestock farms with new housing developments. “It’s really difficult to come up with a fixed-route system that is practical for a geographically diverse area like Johnston County,” says Neal Davis, mobility manager for Community and Senior Services of Johnston County.

In March, JCATS launched QuickRide, a public rideshare network similar to the private options provided by Uber and Lyft. But unlike private ridesharing services that set rates by miles traveled, QuickRide passengers pay a flat rate of $6.00 per trip. Riders on fixed incomes pay discounted fees. After a four-month pilot program, QuickRide now averages around 75 rides per day.

Before 2023, JCATS operated mostly non-emergency medical transit. Today, with a fleet of five white, midsized Ford transit vans emblazoned with the blue-and-green QuickRide logo, anyone in Smithfield and Selma can order a ride and go anywhere within designated zones in the two towns. For connections to Raleigh and elsewhere in the Triangle Region, passengers can request trips to the Amtrak station in Selma as well as to the Johnston Regional Airport in Smithfield. (Right now, the service doesn’t have the demand to offer a route to the state capital.)

The QuickRide network runs on a roughly $600,000 budget, funded by a $175,000 Johnston County allocation and a $394,000 North Carolina–funded rural operating grant. JCATS secured additional county funding for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends in June 2024.

North Carolina has wasted no time diving into public on-demand microtransit. By 2019, local transit agencies had launched or drawn up plans for new services, mostly relying on a combination of federal, state, and local funding. In 2022, North Carolina received a $10.4 million federal Department of Transportation grant for on-demand transit options in Johnston County and ten other communities.

This transportation mode “has been very well received,” says Kai Monast, associate director of the Institute for Transportation Research and Education at North Carolina State University, who works with towns and cities on their implementation plans.

Seven North Carolina transit systems now operate public microtransit services. Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority’s (WAVE) RideMICRO network connects the coastal counties of New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender. The city of Wilson, which borders Johnston County, completely disbanded its bus system in favor of a town-wide microtransit network. The Wake County community of Morrisville, a Raleigh suburb, provides a free microtransit shuttle service within the town and supplements its fixed-route bus routes to Chapel Hill, home to the flagship campus of the University of North Carolina.

In Smithfield and Selma, JCATS fleet supervisor Ronnie Padgett took on the job of marketing the new service to residents. “We wanted to cater to every group,” he says. JCATS originally got the word out through direct mailers, but later expanded their campaign to county offices, local job fairs, and local businesses. The system also put up billboards in English and Spanish.

Customers are enthusiastic about the short response times. And like fixed-route services, drivers can pick up multiple customers going in the same direction; that flexibility was important in developing and operating QuickRide. Any passenger in Selma/Smithfield can make a call or use the app and get a ride within ten minutes. Davis says that some paratransit passengers have opted for QuickRide over the longer response times of the standard paratransit service that required scheduling trips days or weeks in advance.

The network adheres to Americans With Disabilities Act guidelines, as each vehicle can accommodate wheelchairs, which is a stark contrast to certain rideshare companies. In June 2022, a federal judge ruled that Uber’s practice of offering accessible services only in selected areas did not violate the ADA.

Most passengers use the service to travel to work and school, and call for rides instead of using the QuickRide app. After early complaints from passengers about the hours of service, JCATS extended the operating times by two hours, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., and added service on Saturdays. QuickRide even requires drivers to open vehicle doors for arriving and departing passengers.

Moving forward, Davis wants to add the neighboring town of Clayton to the QuickRide system and is optimistic that “a recurring and sustainable funding model can be worked out.” As smaller towns grow, residents who lack their own transportation will want to be able to navigate their communities without resorting to mountaineering-style logistics. An estimated one million North Carolinians do not have access to transportation that they can count on.

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