Requests for rides blossomed during MARTA pilot program

MARTA Reach
Officials from MARTA say they're evaluating data from a six-month pilot program that offered on-demand shuttles. (Emil Moffatt/WABE)

MARTA saw steady growth in the use of its on-demand shuttle service during a six-month pilot program that ended in August.

The MARTA Reach program launched in March in three metro Atlanta neighborhoods and was expanded a few months later to more areas.

It was designed to connect riders to bus and rail service. The shuttle rides cost $2.50 cents, the same as a normal bus fare.

MARTA says use of the on-demand service grew from fewer than a hundred rides per week at the beginning to 600 rides a week by early August.