Orange County is looking to ride-hailing to help replace services provided by two of San Clemente's four bus routes, after the two routes were cut last year, reports NBC4 radio partner KPCC.
To support the 100 daily riders left with fewer options to get around, the county's public transit system is subsidizing fees for ride-sharing services like Lyft.
The Orange County Transportation Authority gave the city of San Clemente a $900,000 grant for a ride-hailing program that would exchange bus services on the two cancelled routes for subsidized services from Lyft. To participate in the program, riders would pay the first $2 of any ride between the former bus stops, and city would then pick up the rest of the tab, up to $9.
San Clemente transportation engineer Tom Frank said most of the rides along the former bus routes would not cost more than the $11 total.
"Frank said about 50 riders a day have been using the new service since its soft launch in October," reported KPCC. The popularity of the new service has surpassed expectations, Frank told KPCC.
When the program is officially launched at the end of April, ridership is projected to increase even more.
