DCTA’s new CEO: GoZone rider data could make for stronger bus network
Denton County Transportation Authority CEO Paul Cristina speaks on the agency's bus network during last month's transportation board meeting.
Paul Cristina
A Denton Connect Route 7 bus waits at the Downtown Denton Transit Center in July. Route 7 — which travels between downtown and the Rayzor Ranch shopping area — is one of the routes DCTA is keeping, while Routes 2, 4 and 5 will be eliminated in January.
Denton County Transportation Authority CEO Paul Cristina envisions GoZone, DCTA's on-demand rideshare service, and the Connect bus service being complementary to each other.
Discussion around the Denton County Transportation Authority has often pitted GoZone against the dwindling Connect bus network. But DCTA CEO Paul Cristina says it’s not about one versus the other — in fact, he believes rider data from GoZone has the agency in its strongest position yet to form an efficient bus system.
The GoZone on-demand rideshare service was initially pitched as a full-stop replacement for DCTA’s bus network in Denton and Lewisville. Before vans took to the streets in September 2021, the decision was driven by the argument that the buses simply weren’t carrying enough riders to justify their cost.
Through a hefty contract with New York-based Via Transportation, the GoZone service was set to take over completely before the board reconsidered last December. At that point, only Lewisville’s bus routes were cut, with Denton’s service granted a lifeline.
In July, the board approved another round of cuts, which will slash Denton’s six-route network in half when the changes go into effect come January. That leaves the Connect bus service with three routes, and at the same time, debate around GoZone’s effectiveness is going strong.
Some board members have argued GoZone has been a resounding success compared with the bus system, with tens of thousands of rides serviced each month. But the agency also has been struggling with its reliability, as wait times — and the numbers of denied rides — have stayed higher than target marks, despite additional cash investments into its contract with GoZone contractor Via Transportation.
With one service taking cuts and the other getting recent investment, it’s no surprise there has been dialogue pitting the two against each other. However, Cristina — who was officially hired as DCTA’s CEO in September, after serving as interim chief — doesn’t see it as a competition.
In a recent interview with the Denton Record-Chronicle about his vision for the transportation system, Cristina said the relationship between GoZone and buses could be integral to the system in the years to come.
“This is not about one mode versus another mode, and I don’t think there’s anyone at DCTA … or on our board who would say this is about one mode versus another mode,” Cristina said. “That was a lot of the dialogue [over the summer], that it’s buses or it’s GoZone. What we’re proposing, through the conversation that we had in October, is that it very likely could be both.”
Cristina was referring to last month’s DCTA board meeting, in which the board seemed to collectively flip its view on the value of bus routes. Data from that meeting showed a sizable percentage of GoZone rides — up to 32% in Denton — started and ended within the current bus service area.
There are several possible conclusions from the data, one being that riders are simply choosing GoZone over a bus option. Denton board representative Alison Maguire then suggested removing GoZone service from certain areas and investing into a more efficient bus service to take on those riders. Even Lewisville Mayor TJ Gilmore, who has long held the position that most bus routes aren’t efficient enough, said he’s open to the idea of funding certain routes.
Cristina said he believes DCTA is at its strongest position yet to figure out how best to approach the bus system. Through GoZone rider data, the agency can look at residents’ travel patterns and invest in bus routes that address hot spots.
“The big difference is that, in the past, the agency simply has not had the data about demand to be able to identify exactly where people are trying to get to and from,” Cristina said. “Historically, bus routes are planned by census block data — which is helpful, but it’s not as clear.”
In the short term, Cristina said DCTA is focused on “intermediate service planning,” which could include making improvements to the Connect network with the goal of making it a more enticing choice. If riders choose to take the bus over booking a GoZone trip, that would free up vans to go elsewhere.
Those familiar with the history of the bus routes will know that isn’t likely to happen overnight. It’s ultimately going to be up to the DCTA board to sign off on any drastic changes to the system, but for his part, Cristina said he can envision GoZone and Connect being complementary to each other.
“I think what we’re seeing is that GoZone’s really effective at moving people, and there’s an opportunity to be a complementary sort of mode to fixed route,” Cristina said. “If you can get 10, 20 people on a bus in a given hour, that’s obviously more effective for moving those people overall. That’s the exercise we’re trying to do, and we don’t know. We haven’t predetermined any outcomes on this, but we’re going to begin the process of just looking at the options.”
JUSTIN GRASS can be reached at 940-566-6884 and via Twitter at @justingrass10.
