Business View Magazine | August 2020

151 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2020 systems are grappling with how to restore that service, otherwise, fixed route transit becomes an untenable model because it’s just too expensive to operate. For example, I could only put about four to six people on my bus, if I wanted to legitimately social distance on a 40-foot bus that could carry standing loads of up to 70 or 80 people, pre-pandemic service. “So, our model may change dramatically, and that probably means a lot more support from third-party transportation providers, such as Uber and Lyft, that can help us modify and augment the way we deliver our service. We’re already doing some of that now– it started pre-pandemic when we were thinking strategies. With a pilot program we call East Durham Connect, we partner with Lyft to provide an on-demand circulator for customers who need to get from their residence onto a main bus line. I envision a lot more of that in the future; much more on-demand travel, less highly structured, more flexible options for people to move around. Fixed-route mass GODURHAM transit has to figure out how to be more fluid and adaptable. Technology is going to help us move a long way in that regard, going forward, because right now there’s a big question mark. “You won’t find another transit system that has the productivity we have. I often refer to our organization as one that fights up in weight. Because we are 58 buses, running 216,000 service hours, but our stats on paper make us appear like a much larger transit service. We do half a million rides per month – six million rides per year – a lot of systems two and three times our size don’t have that kind of ridership. Pre-pandemic, we averaged as high as 34 passengers per hour. Those are pretty staggering numbers. What I’m saying is that GoDurham is a huge mobility life line and economic generator. We’re incredibly important and critical to this community. We really move the city residents and visitors and we take a lot of pride in that.”