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On-Demand Shuttle Program to Launch in Lincoln, Neb.

The van service is hailed via smartphone app and will cost $5 a ride. The program is specifically meant to improve accessibility for disabled riders or those unable to ride city buses.

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Shutterstock/lzf
(TNS) — Lincoln's first city-run, on-demand transit service will begin driving riders anywhere across town for $5 a trip next week, city officials said Tuesday.

The VanLNK program allows riders to hail a van by smartphone app and designating their pickup location and destination.

A software system will assign a driver to optimize a given route for the users, so some riders may share all or part of their trip, the website said.

City officials initially sought to roll out the program in the summer specifically for users of the city's Handi-Van program, those residents with disabilities or who are otherwise unable to ride city buses.

Handi-Van users have for years had to schedule their rides in advance.

But officials decided to move up the pilot program to launch Monday and to expand service to all riders after the pandemic led to decreased ridership and cutbacks in the StarTran bus schedule, said Lincoln Transportation and Utilities Director Liz Elliott.

StarTran buses now run only every hour instead of every half-hour and have reduced hours on weekdays.

"This will allow riders more flexibility when they need ride service and hopefully fill in the gaps for those services in the early morning hours and later in the evening due to reduced fixed route schedules," Elliott said.

Vans will be limited to a maximum of two riders at a time because of social distancing precautions, Elliott said.

Riders using the app on their Android or Apple phones can summon and pay for a ride when they want it and track the van picking them up on the display, Elliott said.

City officials anticipate 100 trips per day, with 15 to 27 vans in operation, officials said.

The vans will run weekdays from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Saturdays from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Like the bus system, VanLNK won't run on Sundays.

Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said she first discussed a possible on-demand program with city staff after attending a conference last year where she learned about a similar program in West Sacramento, California.

Elliott said the service isn't meant to compete with ride-sharing services such as Uber or Lyft and doesn't offer extended service hours.

And the program will return to serving only Handi-Van riders once the pandemic ends, she said.

Handi-Van riders will not be charged for their use of the vans, which remain wheelchair-accessible.

©2020 Lincoln Journal Star, Neb. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.