Valdosta On-Demand gains three more vehicles

Malia Thomas, The Valdosta Daily Times, Ga.
·2 min read

Jun. 28—VALDOSTA — Thanks to high demand, Valdosta On-Demand ride share services will be adding three more cars to its fleet.

The move coincides with the service contract renewal, which will be effective from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023.

Valdosta On-Demand launched on April 27, 2021, in a partnership with River North Transit, a subsidiary of Via Transportation with the goal of providing a micro-transportation system to the city. The service had a starting fleet of seven vehicles, with two of them being handicap accessible. It provided Valdosta residents with 65,100 rides in its first year of operation.

Since its launch, the demand for service has exceeded the capability of the vehicle fleet and the contracted hours. Valdosta On-Demand is providing an average of 300 rides daily with a demand of upward of 500, according to city officials.

Richard Hardy, deputy city manager of operations, told Valdosta City Council that in order to contend with the demand for service, an increase of vehicles and contracted driver hours is required.

"Everyone knows that this has been a success. Demand for the service is overwhelming. Currently, we have more requests than vehicles we can provide. So what we looked at doing was amending the current contract of bringing a total of 10 vehicles, allowing us to provide hours and service capabilities to the city," he said.

The city was approved for the Federal Transit Administration Urbanized Area Formula 5307 grant and congressionally directed spending to fund the transit program for Fiscal Year 2023. The city's match was approved in its Fiscal Year 2023 budget.

A chart highlighting vehicle hours, estimated rides served, fleet size and the total annual program cost has been included in the contract's amendment:

Vehicle hours: 29,740.

Estimated rides served: 95,000.

Vehicles in fleet: 10.

Fixed upfront costs: $29,500.

Fee / vehicle hour: $65.08.

Total cost: $1,965,000.

Valdosta residents can book a ride via the app "Valdosta On-Demand," available on the Apple and Google Play stores or by calling (229) 441-2940.