WEST PALM BEACH — Free downtown-area rides on a popular city program will cost passengers some money next month. And the teal vans that replaced the trolley-style buses last year could themselves be replaced as early as next year.
The city-funded on-demand ride service that’s part of its RideWPB program , where passengers use a smartphone app to summon rides to and from downtown West Palm Beach and Palm Beach, will cost $1 to $4 starting Tuesday. Adding fares is necessary, a city official says, because the free program’s popularity has led to too many riders for not enough available seats, leaving too many passengers waiting too long to be picked up.
Rides to and from RideWPB’s downtown zone — between Banyan Boulevard and Okeechobee Boulevard — will cost $2. Rides to and from the West Palm Beach zones outside downtown will cost $1. Rides to and from Palm Beach will cost $4, plus $1 for each extra passenger. Rides from outside downtown will cost less to encourage people to walk and bike downtown, said West Palm Beach mobility and transportation manager Jessica Keller.