Houston to add more ride-share vehicles

More free electric rideshare vehicles will appear in Houston’s Second Ward, after City Council approved additional funding for RYDE Houston because of a successful pilot program in District D this summer.

Council approved $281,000 out of the general fund from Dec. 1 to July 31 to continue the program that already has two vehicles roaming Houston’s Third Ward. It will also provide an additional two vehicles to begin the program in Houston’s Second Ward in District H, Casey Brown, executive director of Evolve Houston, said Wednesday.

Houston first received the free shuttles after RYDE won an Emobility microgrant from Evolve Houston to launch the program, Brown said. Evolve is a nonprofit aiming to increase clean transportation in Houston. Its founding partners include the city, University of Houston, Shell Oil, NRG and CenterPoint Energy. It began as a response to the city’s Climate Action Plan.

RYDE’s shuttles are fully electric Polaris-gem vehicles, fit five people and hit a top speed of 25 mph. They must avoid road use where speed limits are higher than 35 mph.

“They have been a tremendous success in the Third Ward for people being able to get to the grocery store, and to the doctor and to various areas,” District D Councilmember Carolyn Evans-Shabazz said Wednesday. “It’s not just for seniors. It’s been a tremendous help to the students of Texas Southern and University of Houston, as well. The beauty of it is that it serves all of the community.”

The program saw around 1,200 rides taken by Third Ward residents every month during the 12-week pilot, Brown said.

Residents took free rides to area H-E-Bs, libraries, schools, medical facilities and even to Metro bus stops, which was a specific highlight, Brown said.

“In some cases, it’s a first and last mile solution,” Brown said. “In other cases ... the intent of the program is to get you to critical community locations.”

The RYDE program was first created to help provide a solution to transportation for seniors, Brown said. The program will run parallel with the Mayor’s Office of Complete Communities, which consists of 10 underserved areas of Houston. The goal is for RYDE electric shuttles to be available in all 10 of the communities. In Third Ward, 29% of households are without a car and 16% in the Second Ward are without one.

Shuttles can be called through the Ride Circuit app and operate from Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.