For over two years, a fleet of minivans has traveled thousands of miles across Albemarle County’s growth areas, carrying passengers as part of an experiment in on-demand public rideshare transport in a locality with limited bus service.
A feasibility study for the MicroCAT service anticipated 100 rides a day, but ridership has been much higher. Service began on October 30, 2023.
“As of the two-year period, they have 120,060 rides that have been completed,” said Kevin McDermott, Albemarle’s deputy planning director. “This works out to be closer to about 190 rides a day on average over that period.”…