Gwinnett, Norcross to partner for $1.3M microtransit pilot
Outside of a shopping plaza on South Norcross-Tucker Road, Jimmy Angelo explains how he normally gets around. And sometimes, it isn’t always the cheapest.
“I use the public transportation, call a taxi or ask a friend to give me a ride,” he said.
Angelo explains that whether it be taxi fare or treating a friend to meal as a favor for picking him up, he’s spending around $15 a trip.
The Spanish-speaking Gwinnett County resident is one of many who live within the Gateway85 Community Improvement District– an area identified as having socioeconomic disparities.
The roughly 13-square-mile zone has over 36,000 residents, all of whom will soon have access to the Southwest Gwinnett Microtransit Pilot program.
The on-demand rideshare service, still in development, will cost only $3 per ride and make short trips to school, work and other forms of public transit within an allotted zone.
According to a press release from Norcross officials, the pilot is estimated to cost roughly $1.3 million and will be funded by the city, Gateway85, and Gwinnett. The latter two contributors will each contribute 44% of the funding, with Norcross covering the remaining total.
The program will operate 14 hours a day, Monday through Saturday, excluding holidays, from August this year to July 2025.
In the same press release, Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson praised the upcoming initiative.
“By leveraging our resources and expertise to expand microtransit, we’re charting a new course that will serve our diverse community’s transportation needs,” said Hendrickson. “Strong partnerships like this one are instrumental in helping us achieve mobility for all.”
“This new micro transit program, it provides access — access is opportunity,” added China Thomas, the director of Gwinnett County’s capital transit program.
While the pilot has already rolled out in Lawrenceville and Snellville, Thomas says the demand is heavily sought after all throughout the county.
“Gwinnett is a very car dependent place, and not everyone has the same level of access,” she said. “And so to be able to give a added layer of access, to just get around… we we really wanted to push for that.”
Top Stories
