Durango Transit’s new on-demand ride service, DuranGO Microtransit, has been met with a positive reception from early adopters of the cheap late-night ride program.

The program had nearly 100 passengers in its first week of service, which began Oct. 18, Durango transit mobility coordinator Keith Dunning said.

During its first Friday night of service on Oct. 20, it had just two passengers. However, ridership increased to 12 passengers on its second Friday, Oct. 27, he said.

Drivers and program leaders expect the service to become much more popular as word travels about its low fares and on-demand functionality.

Dunning, who is the brain behind the new microtransit service, said Durango Transit has already received several unsolicited emails thanking the city for adding the service.

“Anecdotally, passengers seem to be responding positively to it. We’ve done about just under 100 rides in a week, which is great. It exceeded my expectations for a launch week, for sure,” he said this past Thursday.

Tom Richards, a daytime driver shift manager and nighttime microtransit driver, also said people have been responding well to DuranGO Microtransit’s launch. Although it takes a while for people to learn about new community programs, he thinks people will flock to it once they see how easy on-demand ride service is to use.

The service operates from 8 p.m. to midnight every evening. It’s tied to a free downloadable app available on the Apple Store, Google Play and via direct download from the city’s website.

The city charges just $2 per ride for each passenger. A bus will pick someone up from anywhere within city limits and drop them off at their destination in town.

“This has taken off more quickly than our typical new routes might because it's filling a gap and a need that hasn't existed,” Richards said.

The city used to have another late-night rides program known as the Buzz Bus, but that program was discontinued when the city lost grant funding to pay for the service. The Buzz Bus was briefly resurrected by The Hive in Durango, but again the program was short-lived.

Richards said DuranGO Microtransit will be nothing like the Buzz Bus because it will operate much more consistently.

The on-demand ride service is being funded by a $50,000 transit operating grant the city received from the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Richards said the grant will fund the program for one year. As long as the service proves reliable and successful, he sees it being funded for years to come.

The new program isn’t without its minor flaws, which mostly have to do with user flexibility for drivers, he said. If a passenger requests a drop-off at a slightly different location than the one they entered into the DuranGO app when scheduling a ride, the bus driver still needs to visit that exact GPS location in order for the ride to be considered completed. And the next ride can’t be started until that qualification is met.

But it takes time to work out bugs with new apps, test workflows and user habits to help address unforeseen problems. Overall, the launch of DuranGO Microtransit has went smoothly, Richards said. And to see the benefit the service offers, all one has to do is hop on the bus after 8 p.m., he said.

Paul Atkinson, who settled into Durango in February, said the new on-demand service is a godsend. He was recently issued a DUI and has temporarily lost his driving privileges. He bartends downtown, and he gets off at least one of his shifts early enough every week to take advantage of DuranGO Microtransit.

He lives near Mercy Hospital and is paying $2 per ride when he gets on the bus late at night versus roughly $20 for a Lyft or Uber ride.

“It’s extremely convenient,” he said.

The difficulty of catching a taxi cab or finding an Uber ride late at night is odd, he said. On days he gets off work before midnight, DuranGO Microtransit is just what he needs.

“It's definitely finicky. It's weird after 12, you would think that would be like when Uber’s popping off because a bunch of drunk people are trying to get home,” he said. “I've gotten myself in predicaments before we're almost couldn't get a ride home.”

Talissa Bahr said on Friday she learned about the service through a friend who attends Fort Lewis College. She and a group of nine college-age friends had scheduled separate DuranGO rides to the Starlight Lounge on Main Avenue where they’d celebrate “Halloweekend.”

They had drinks before their outing and scheduled two rides because they weren’t sure how many people would fit on one bus.

Richards said one bus seats eight passengers, while another seats 10.

For Bahr and her friends, on-demand public transportation is a safe alternative to drinking and driving, or walking home in the cold and at night. It’s a good thing when people don’t need to bring their car keys to reach their destinations, she said.

“Students will stay out past (midnight), but just not being able to have a car and keys to get back into while drinking, I think that helps,” she said.

Juleoni “Ju Ju” Novelli said he works at the Methodist Thrift Store on East Second Avenue, and he heard about DuranGO Microtransit on the radio during a shift.

He said the 8 p.m. hour, when regular bus routes are wrapping up for the day, is awfully early for public transit to stop. He said the new service lasting until midnight every day is “amazing.”

John Lund, another “Halloweekend” celebrant in Bahr’s group, said, on-demand public transportation “is definitely the future.”

“Honestly, I’m really proud of Durango for doing this,” he said.

Novelli said he’s lived in other college towns where similar on-demand services are available, and he was surprised it previously wasn’t a thing in Durango. But he’s pleased to see that has changed.

Lund said he owns a car and a moped, but he doesn’t rely on regular public transit. He instead drives or carpools with friends, but he will consider using DuranGO Microtransit more often now that he knows about it. He also likes the idea of supporting public transit to get more cars off the road.

Richards said public transit is a public service, and Durango Transit’s drivers take that to heart.

“(We) really try pretty darn hard to be compassionate and empathetic and help people in need,” he said.

Whether someone is unhoused, dealing with hard financial times or cannot drive or get around due to other circumstances, compassionate public transit is available, he said.

cburney@durangoherald.com

This story has been updated with the correct name spellings of FLC students Talissa Bahr, John Lund, Juleoni Novelli, and to clarify Lund’s quote about public transportation referring to on-demand public transportation rather than public transportation in general.