The Zen of MyRide
By: Peter Johnke, Vermont Center for Independent Living
If you have no expectations, it usually works out.
MyRide is on-demand transportation serving the city of Montpelier, including Central Vermont Hospital and Route 302 to Price Chopper. It operates Monday-Friday from 7am to 6pm and 8am to 6pm on Saturday. You can call for a ride or use the MyRide app. Unlike a taxi, you may not be the only one riding so you may not go directly to your destination.
It takes some trial and error to understand and use the app. You can request to “arrive by” or “depart by” a certain time. The time you choose may vary by 15-20 minutes in order to make the system more efficient by picking up and dropping off passengers going in the same direction. If you need to be somewhere by a certain time schedule the trip as far in advance as possible.
I don’t drive, so I ride share from my home in East Calais to Wayside Restaurant, arriving at Wayside at 8am. I have two options:
I can wait about 15 minutes and catch the City Commuter (fixed route service) to the Montpelier Transit Center. Then walk from there to the City Center where I work. Or;
I can take MyRide from Wayside directly to the City Center
If I wait until I get to Wayside to schedule the trip, I rarely am able to arrive at work before 9am. If I take the City Commuter I can easily get there by 8:30. If I schedule the MyRide before I leave home, I’m much more likely to get picked up at Wayside about 8:10 and depending on how many others are on the bus or will get picked up, I’m usually at work by 8:30-8:45. If my ride share from home is late, then I may miss the MyRide bus.
In this scenario my choice is a predictable 15-minute wait and 5-minute walk or a less predictable wait and no walking. Going home is similar, however more of an issue if MyRide is late and I miss my ride home.
I have used MyRide for trips from downtown to Central Vermont Hospital, from Hunger Mountain Coop to downtown. Often, it’s quicker for me to walk.
The other day I came to Montpelier just to do shopping. I wasn’t working, but I caught my usual ride share to get to Wayside Restaurant. I arrived at 7:55 and used the MyRide app to schedule a ride to City Hall (a central location). The MyRide app said I could get there by 8:30, so I booked the ride. That was unexpected since I hadn’t scheduled the trip earlier. I thought I’d have to wait longer.
Although the app is supposed to show where the bus is in real time – don’t count on it. It will give you an approximation. It showed my bus was coming from the vicinity of Price Chopper. I can make it easier for the driver if I walk across the street to the bus stop opposite Wayside, so they don’t have to turn into the parking lot. I was watching the app that said the bus was 3 minutes away. I looked up just as it was passing me by and was able to wave in time for the bus to stop. The app gives you the option of adding location comments. If I’d put in that I was ‘opposite Wayside’, the driver may have stopped without me having to flag it down. Unfortunately, drivers often don’t look at the location comments.
I got off at City Hall did some errands moving in the direction of Shaw’s in downtown Montpelier. I did my shopping there and next needed to go to Hunger Mountain Coop. If I can’t get a MYRide in a few minutes, usually I will walk. Today, my groceries were heavier than usual, AND I didn’t have any time constraints. I had to wait 40 minutes for MYRide and we picked up one other person on North Main Street, then I was dropped off at the Coop, getting there about 10:45.
There are supposed to be 3 busses running during the day (2 on Saturday), but it’s impossible to know how many busses are actually in service. A bus may be down, or there may be a driver shortage. They could probably use 4 busses during peak hours in the morning and afternoon. Unless you are able to book your return trip at the same time, you will probably have to wait longer to get a ride back.
Is it a better service than what was there before?
I think yes, because you can go anywhere in the service area, not just to places on a bus route. It also gives you some flexibility on when you want to travel. However, some riders lose out. They need a predictable schedule of when the bus will be at their bus stop - period. No planning, no need to call, don’t have to have a smart phone. Just go to the stop and the bus will come. That is still possible with the City Commuter between Barre and Montpelier, but not for getting to Central Vermont Hospital for the mall. MyRide is the only option.
If you haven’t used MyRide before I encourage you to use it. Using the app is the most convenient, but it does take some time to understand how it works and the variables between what it says and what is actually happening. If you can book rides in advance, that will give you a better chance of getting where and when you want to go, but not always. MyRide may not do what you expect, but go with the flow and you’ll get there.
