If you live in West Hollywood, the new Sun Shuttle West can get you to your destination.
The electric community shuttle is part of a test pilot program with the City of Hollywood and run by the micro-transit provider, Circuit.
Circuit has been successfully running a shuttle service in east Hollywood near downtown and the beach for four years, and now they’re expanding to the west side.
“In the east, we know that everything is fairly well connected, but the west was lacking those transportation options so we’re coming in at Circuit to help fill in that first to last mile gap helping residents get to places that they need to be," said Alana Wortsman, Public Partnerships Manager at Circuit.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
Riders can download the app at ridecircuit.com to request a ride or hail the shuttles if they see one passing on the street. Nonsmartphone users can also call 954-303-9057
“For just $2 you can ride. You can take a shuttle Monday through Saturday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m," Wortsman said. "If you see a vehicle out there that has the Circuit branding on it, feel free to just give us a wave and the driver will know and they’ll call it and get you where you need to be."
The 12-person passenger van will pick up and drop off riders at 19 predetermined locations from west of I-95 to the Florida Turnpike between Johnson and Washington streets.
The on-demand service is essentially a connector to get people to high-volume areas like the Tri-Rail, Memorial Regional Hospital, Target, grocery stores and more.
“One of the biggest ideas here is how can we expand mobility opportunities that don’t require someone to use their car," said City of Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy. "It reduces the carbon footprint and certainly reduces traffic when they share a ride."
Local
City leaders say ridership has been increasing and it’s part of a larger plan.
“Our goal is to then show that ridership and that demand to Broward County which operates the wonderfully expanding Mobility Advancement Program of the county, which is the surtax that we’ve all paid into," Levy said. "This is hopefully going to seed and create additional opportunities that the county can then jump in with the MAP system and Broward County Transit and see that these smaller routes that circulate closer to where people need to get picked up and dropped off can be successful in attracting ridership in addition to the bus system."
The City of Hollywood is currently testing out this shuttle service through May 31.
More information can be found here.
