Public transit in San Benito County could get more flexible in the future, with a proposal to allow buses to veer off their routes to pick up people at random, nearby locations.
San Benito County’s Local Transportation Authority, run through the Council of San Benito County Governments, is compiling a new transit plan that involves a “Flexibus” initiative and re-configuring Caltrain to serve San Juan Bautista. The public is invited to two open houses Dec. 16 to review the ideas.
The first one Dec. 16 is set for 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in San Juan Bautista, with the follow-up from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Hollister Community Center.
The transit plan includes major proposals such as expanding service, replacing the Hollister fixed route with flexibus service with a $1 deviation charge, re-configuring Caltrain’s bus to serve San Juan and revising the weekend schedules to Gilroy, according to a summary from COG.
The local transit agency, in the meantime, is also working on a bus stop improvement plan with hopes of assessing conditions and prioritizing projects for when funds are available.
As for one of the more prominent changes, the flexibus proposal, COG Transportation Planner Veronica Lezama said riders could be eligible for the deviation if their location is within three-quarters of a mile from the route.
“People don’t have to walk as far,” Lezama told the Free Lance.
With prospects for flexibus, COG is working on a real-time system that could accommodate the program, she said.
The flexibus system would be similar to the transit agency’s Dial-A-Ride program, but Dial-A-Ride is for people outside the three-quarters of a mile area. With Dial-A-Ride, people can call a phone number for a pickup with a price of $1 for same-day rides without reservations.
Lezama explained that COG would arrange the schedule to allow “buffer time” for the flexibus pickups.
