Trip Connect, an app that provides reliable transportation for essential activities during non-traditional hours, is emerging as a key player in Johnson County’s transportation network, filling crucial transit gaps and improving mobility for residents. The service is offered Sunday through Friday from 5 p.m. to midnight.
By offering curb-to-curb service, on-demand, or scheduled rides, Trip Connect is making it easier for residents, especially those without personal vehicles or access to traditional public transit, to navigate their daily lives efficiently in Johnson County.
Since its launch over a month ago, Trip Connect has already shown promising results. The completion of 116 rides within the first month highlights the demand for this service, while the presence of a dedicated user base, 10 riders having completed five or more trips, suggests that the program is successfully integrating into daily routines.
“We have seen over 500 ride requests since launching Trip Connect,” Kelly Schneider, mobility coordinator for Johnson County Social Services, said, in an email to The Daily Iowan. “Many people are ‘returning riders’ who are finding the service useful and completing more than one ride.”
People are enjoying the service. Schneider said at the end of each trip, a rider can provide a rating. The current average rating is 4.9 out of five stars.
The program is currently limited to citizens of Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, and locations north of Interstate 80 in Johnson County.
People are using this program to get to various destinations, including Kirkwood, hotels, restaurants, retail, manufacturing, care facilities, and grocery stores, Schneider said.
“Our long-term goals include expanding service throughout the entire county, increasing service hours, days, and the amount of vehicles in operation,” Schneider said.
With the trips costing $2 per ride, Trip Connect cheaper than other transit options.
Brock Grenis, transit administrator/planner for CorridorRides, said he believes that the fare is affordable but that it may still be a barrier for some people.
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CorridorRides is a public transportation service different from a city bus service. It makes a schedule each day to pick up and drop off passengers at a variety of locations. CorridorRides serves Benton, Iowa, Jones, Johnson, Linn, and Washington counties and operates 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“I think it’ll complement many of the other services because they operate at different times, and it’ll just be one more opportunity for people that need transportation to access it,” Genis said.
Flexibility is one of the program’s benefits, as it serves individuals who work non-traditional hours. Many existing public transportation options operate on fixed schedules, which often don’t align with the needs of workers in industries such as health care, hospitality, and manufacturing, where early morning or late-night shifts are common.
Trip Connect helps bridge this gap, allowing employees to reach their workplaces without the constraints of limited transit options.
Erin Hutt, a new TripConnect user, said he is excited about the service, as there are not many companies already doing something similar to this.
Hutt spoke on how the service will compare to Uber fees.
“It’d be a minimum of $15, $20 to go a few miles, so that’s ridiculous, but this is very affordable. Like they say, $2 a ride. That’s very affordable for people in my situation,” Hutt said. “I got signed up in about 15 minutes. The process was really simple. It was perfect.”