By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JAN. 17, 2025 | The microtransit service that Gwinnett County began two years ago as a test in Snellville has proven to be something both useful and relatively inexpensive. And now it has been expanded to the Lawrenceville and Norcross areas.
Microtransit service allows people to get inexpensive transportation within their neighborhood. It is not a transit service for extensive in-county rides, nor for forays into the wider Metro Atlanta area.
You might wonder where this idea came from. It’s not entirely new.
In the United States, microtransit has evolved from jitney transport, which was once common in many cities around the world but has disappeared because of tighter regulations. In 1914, during a streetcar strike in Los Angeles, a motorist began giving rides for a jitney. Its flexible service swept the nation very quickly.
By the way, a jitney is slang for a nickel. So shared rides only cost a nickel in those days.
During an 11-day public transit strike in 1980, a similar “jitney” success was the “dollar vans” of that day.
In the doomed public transit vote in Gwinnett in 2024, county commissioners recognized the benefit of microtransit service to many residents without automobiles. Had this vote passed, one of the first elements of the expanded transit would have been the extension of microtransit to all areas of Gwinnett County.
Gwinnett citizens have turned to this type of public transit in the three communities where it now operates.
- For Snellville Microtransit, there was a growth from 1,511 in January to 2,035 in October.
- In the Lawrenceville Microtransit, the usage increased from 1,617 riders in January that grew to 2,447 in October.
- The new Norcross Microtransit pilot grew from 237 riders in its first full month of service to 779 in November.
One reason that microtransit has proven popular is the fee that is charged: only $3 for a ride from one point to another within that transit zone. For a person with no vehicle, who has to resort to a taxi or Uber vehicle, that is a tremendous bargain, compared to the $10 to $20 that those other rides would cost.
But providing microtransit comes at a considerable cost to the county. In the 2025 Gwinnett budget, it provides $3,125,000 for microtransit for the three areas that it currently operates.
Had the 2024 public transit vote passed, the county had planned to expand microtransit service in zones throughout the county, which was projected to cost $14,617,000.
Earlier this year, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners approved a $2.67 billion budget for the 2025 fiscal year. The adopted spending plan consists of a $2.11 billion operating budget and a $555 million capital improvements budget, which includes funds from the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax program.
Since the 30 year transit referendum did not pass in 2024, there are no plans on the table for additional transit options now.
But it’s obvious that all areas of Gwinnett need their own zoned microtransit service. We urge the county, and the individual cities, to work together to collectively fund this service. It will serve the people of Gwinnett who have no means of transportation. They need an economical way to get around for their day-to-day living. That’s what microtransit provides.
GwinnettForum now adds to its List of Continuing Objectives: County-wide microtransit services.
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