'Uber and Lyft are Expensive': Waco Transit introduces new rideshare service, Micro Dash
WACO, Texas — Uber and Lyft will now have some competition. Waco Transit is introducing a rideshare service to take you and your neighbors around Greater Waco. The nationwide service coming to Waco is called Micro Dash.
- One trip is $1.50, a day pass is $3.00 and a monthly pass is $40.00.
- Micro Dash only operates from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
- The rideshare vehicles will travel to three zones. A northern zone covering Hewitt and Woodway, a central zone covering Valley mills and Lakeshore, then a southern zone which travels through Bellmead and TSTC.
- If you want to cross zones, you have to take a bus. You can find out if your desired location is in your zone by adding it into the Ride Pingo app.
“A lot of us are low income or struggling and Uber or Lyft are expensive,” Mercury Krupicka said.
To be at work by 10 a.m., Mercury Krupicka has to get on the bus an hour an a half early.
She tells me with a rideshare like Uber or Lyft, she wouldn’t have worry about all the extra stops.
“I can just call 'hey I need you right now, gotta be there in you know 20 minutes',” she said.
So I introduced her to the Ride Pingo App.
That’s that new way you can book a ride with Waco Transit's “Micro-Dash”. It’s a low-cost rideshare service, subsidized by a federal grant.
“Similar to an Uber, who will pick you up and take you to your destination with another person, we’re also single riders,” Charles Parham said.
Waco Transit’s Charles Parham said unlike Uber though, one trip is $1.50, a day pass is $3 and a monthly pass is $40. But there are limits. Micro Dash only operates from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
The rideshare vehicles will travel to three zones. A northern zone covering Hewitt and Woodway, a central zone covering Valley mills and Lakeshore, then a southern zone which travels through Bellmead and TSTC.
If you want to cross zones, you have to take a bus. You can find out if your desired location is in your zone by adding it into the app.
“We’re a transit agency, our job is to serve the public we’re wanting to be affordable for everyone to use public transportation if they decide to do so,” Parham said.
Krupicka is downloading the app now, for those mornings she doesn’t have time to wait for the bus.
"I don’t have to really worry about catching multiple buses in order to get there. Just one little ride," she said.
The service will be free throughout the month of May. If you cant download the app, you can book a ride by calling (254) 750-1623.
Waco Transit is hiring and training 40 drivers to be apart of the rideshare service.
To learn more about traveling through zones, and about the app, you can visit the City of Waco's website.
