GoBus Announces Highest Regional Ridership Since 2014 and Receipt of New Grant Funding Award
October 14, 2019
GOBUS
ETCOG’s rural transportation system, GoBus, announces rapid growth of regional ridership. GoBus provided a total of 105,257 trips for Fiscal Year 2019 from September 1st through August 31st. This is the agency’s highest ridership since 2014 credited to a fare reduction in 2018 as well as new leadership’s emphasis on increasing trip coordination.
GoBus is a rural transportation service providing over 105,000 trips annually to our 14-county region in East Texas. GoBus strives to deliver safe, reliable, and friendly rural transportation services to the community through an easy reservation process and inexpensive fare. GoBus demand response transit service provides access to jobs, medical appointments, social services, shopping or any other destination requested.
GoBus leaders recently attended the Special Districts Summit hosted by AT&T and Government Technology in Houston, Texas, offering professional development providing tools, actionable plans and a professional network to help ensure the organization is “future ready.” At the summit, GoBus was awarded a Technology Innovation Award for recently implementing its new fare system with the use of Square credit card processing to provide a more dynamic and efficient way to collect fares from passengers. (Pictured: Melissa Cure, GoBus Business Development Manager)
New grant funding has also been awarded to GoBus for service expansion. The Edwin A. Blue and Janice Owen Miller Charitable Fund awarded $10,000 to expand service in Henderson County for seniors’ trips into Tyler. This county has seen a considerable amount of growth in trips and is in our top three counties achieving the highest ridership. An additional $5,000 was granted by an anonymous foundation to increase service for seniors and persons with disabilities in areas where GoBus is experiencing an increase in demand.
“We are doing our best to keep rural east Texas transportation services up to date with technology while providing all the options and services our passengers expect,” said Vince Huerta, ETCOG’s Director of Transportation. “We hope to have more opportunities in the future to continue altering GoBus services for the better. I am really proud of staff being open to new ideas and innovations and making them happen!”
GoBus provides daily local service within Anderson, Camp, Cherokee, Harrison, Henderson, Marion, Panola, Rains, Rusk, Upshur, Van Zandt, and Wood Counties and the non-urbanized areas of Gregg and Smith Counties. Trips from the rural areas into the urbanized areas of Longview or Tyler are offered on Tuesdays & Thursdays. GoBus trips are booked by calling 800-590-3371 to speak with our dispatch office.
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Recently, the Texas Veterans Commission's (TVC) Fund for Veterans' Assistance (FVA) announced its largest funding in the 16-year history of FVA programs, with 213 grants totaling $46,315,000 to provide services to an estimated 40,000 veterans. ETCOG is proud to be one of the grant recipients selected with $250,000 of those funds to provide GoBus transportation services for veterans in our 14-county service region. "It is an honor to receive this funding award from the Texas Veterans Commission and Chair Koerner, which allows us to continue our mission to support all East Texas veterans," said Vince Huerta, GoBus Director. "We are dedicated to growing the program and look forward to assisting more veterans this year." With the grant, our public transit system, GoBus, will fund trips to and from medical, dental, and mental health appointments, as well as trips for basic needs such as grocery stores, community meetings, voting, court appearances, and tax offices. These trips are available to veterans, veteran spouses and dependents, survivor spouses, and active military personnel. The grant is in partnership with over $46.3 million in grants for veterans, Governor Abbott announced on May 20 . “Texas is forever indebted to the brave men and women who answered the call to serve in our nation's military,” said Governor Abbott. “The State of Texas is home to over 1.5 million veterans—more than any other state. This has shaped our mission to provide wide-ranging services for veterans and their families. With over $46,315,000 in state grants, Texas will help thousands of veterans and their families access vital support and resources needed to thrive in our great state. Texas will always support our veterans and honor their sacrifices to our state and our nation.” Find out about all veteran transport services GoBus offers by visiting www.gobustransit.com/govet .
ETCOG is excited to share progress on the new GoBus Transportation Facility, which is nearing completion and expected to open this summer.
Exciting news for Anderson County residents! GoBus’ new on-demand microtransit service, GoNOW, has completed its first month of operation in Palestine—and the results are in! In its first 30 days, GoNOW provided approximately 400 trips, averaging 20 rides per day, helping to increase overall ridership in Anderson County by 25%. This strong demand highlights the community’s need for flexible, on-demand transportation. Launched on March 1, GoNOW makes getting around easier than ever. Like Uber, riders can request a trip through a mobile app or by phone, ensuring quick pickups, shorter wait times, and the trusted reliability of GoBus. For just $2 per trip, GoNOW operates Monday through Friday, 7 AM - 3 PM, covering a 10-square-mile area in Palestine. Seniors may qualify for sponsored trips, and as always, veterans and active military ride free. The easiest way to ride? Download the GoBus app! Using GoNOW is simple: 📲 Download the app (App Store for iOS or Google Play for Android) 📞 Call our office at 903-218-6450 to register an account ✉️ Sign up with your designated email address and chosen password 🚗 Click "Book a New Trip" and get moving! With a successful first month behind us, GoBus looks forward to continuing to provide this convenient service to Palestine residents. If you haven’t tried GoNOW yet, now is the perfect time! For more information, call 903-218-6450.
