Trumbull resident Blaze Lovell, says living without a car in the Fairfield County suburb where she grew up, can seem almost impossible.
“You absolutely still need a car even to get to the bus line,” Lovell said. “And it's very difficult to walk around Trumbull.”
Lovell and others have found a viable workaround. Connecticut is funding a nearly $20 million pilot program which could bridge those public transportation gaps in Trumbull and throughout Connecticut.
The Microtransit Pilot Program funds nine municipalities’ local on demand rideshare services. The pilot program launched last year. And despite the fact that it’s still in its infancy, state and local officials say the program is popular with commuters, even if some, like Lovell, criticize the cost and service limitations.
Lovell and her partner Luis Lage waited by Trumbull’s Long Hill Green in the dead of winter to catch a ride on GBT Connect, which is Trumbull’s version of the pilot run by Greater Bridgeport Transit (GBT).
They waited in the cold for the rideshare that will take them to the Trumbull Mall.
Lovell said getting around town before the rideshare launched wasn’t easy, citing poor bus service.
“If I had a friend in Bridgeport or something like that, I wouldn't have been able to do that unless I got a ride from my parents,” Lovell said.
Just as many of the rideshares under the pilot program, service in Trumbull is limited to the municipality. But the mall has a bus transfer station located nearby, giving Lovell a way to head from Trumbull to Bridgeport without needing her car, which she says breaks down a lot.
So far, Lovell and Lage like it.
“The trip that we are going to take just one way is going would be $14 on Uber and for the GBT Connect, it would be $4 per person, flat rate anywhere in Trumbull, any two points,” Lovell said.
A red sedan with the GBT Connect logo pulls up in front of a pizzeria, picks them up and pulls out within 15 minutes.
Lovell and Lage are also transit activists. Lage lives in Bridgeport and helps run an Instagram page called Car Free BPT, which supports greater mass transit service and less reliance on private transportation in the Bridgeport area.
But that’s more of a wish than reality, since Bridgeport’s bus service only serves the Trumbull Mall or the Town Hall.
Greater Bridgeport Transit Chief Executive Officer Steven DiMichele said the micro transit program is a way to help provide service in areas where it isn’t available.
“We knew that there was demand up here in terms of gaps in time and geography of service, and that's one of the reasons why we selected Trumbull for the pilot, because we felt that there was a need here,” DiMichele said.
DiMichele said the pilot program in Trumbull has been successful, citing ridership for the last half of 2024.
“So far, 1,600 people have used GBT Connect in Trumbull from July to December,” he said.
DiMichele doesn’t have demographic data on who uses the service, but mentioned people who have children with disabilities and the elderly have reached out to GBT to ask about the service. Those populations are more likely to rely on mass transit according to the federal Department of Transportation.
The department is also currently investigating GBT over lack of access to paratransit services in Bridgeport, according to prior reporting by Connecticut Public.
However, the state Department of Transportation, which does track disability accommodations with mass transit, said thus far, no issues have been reported. GBT Connect’s service is provided by transportation company M7, which is not the same paratransit provider that GBT uses in Bridgeport.
Local business owners looking to fill jobs are also warming up to the rideshares, according to Rina Bakalar, Trumbull’s Economic and Community Development Director.
“All of our businesses are having trouble staffing up their operations,” Bakalar said. “So the more barriers we can remove to getting people to and from their jobs or getting staff hired, the better.”
Several locations such as New London, Stonington and Norwalk already had similar services before the program was announced in 2023. But the program has recently expanded to Fairfield County towns including Shelton, Stamford and Trumbull.
Norwalk started its own microtransit service, Wheels2U back in 2018. Matt Pence, CEO of the Norwalk Transit District, said the program started off as a fleet of minibuses meant to help boost the city’s recreation sector.
The program later joined the pilot program in March 2024. Pence said it’s popular with residents and business owners.
“The month of April, which is really the first month that we operated, we did 1,893 trips, “Pence said. “The holidays did impact it. But if you go to October before the holidays, we did 5,425 trips.”
Trumbull’s 1,600 rides seem tiny by comparison, but Pence said the differences are expected owing to the size and density of Norwalk compared to Trumbull.
The state DOT stated it plans to advocate for permanent funding when the pilot program ends in 2026.
But while riders like Lovell and Lage, have their complaints.
Lovell said the fare is cheap compared to Uber and Lyft, but not when compared to the local bus system.
“Even $4 per person is kind of too expensive to be able to do that long term,” Lovell said.
Ultimately, what they both want is transit oriented development, allowing for denser homes, and subsequently, more mass transit.
Such an idea has little chance of succeeding in Trumbull, which recently extended a now multi year moratorium on multifamily apartments in town.
“People don't want that kind of thing around here, they want the little peaceful suburb,” Lovell said. “They enjoy this type of vibe, and don't really care as much about the accessibility and alternate means of transit besides car(s).”
When asked about the complaints, DiMichele said the program is still in the pilot stage and would take into account any feedback provided by users, but said the rideshares serve a specific multimodal purpose.
“We're not looking to replace fixed route service with GPT Connect,” DiMichele said. It's really meant to complement it.”
