RideLV - transportation for everyone begins April 10

A citywide program, RideLV Micro Transit, is beginning in April 2023. This program, supported by the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority and operated locally by The Guidance Center, will provide on-demand transportation upon request to locations within the Leavenworth City limits.

Information about the transit vans:

-Costs are a flat $2 rate. This means $2 per person, per ride.

- Anyone is eligible to ride. n

- Rides are limited to locations within the City of Leavenworth city limits. n

- Vans will operate 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. The system has been designed as a demand-response operation in which riders use an app to request a ride. Service delivery and dispatch will be provided by the Guidance Center. The initial transportation fleet will consist of 3 vans.

Funding for the RideLV Micro Transit has been provided by a series of grants from state resources and funding from the City of Leavenworth. RideLV received a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Multimodal Transportation Bureau, Section 5311: Formula Grants for Rural Areas. The grant provided $266,655 in grant funding for operations, $219,545 was also funded for the vehicles. The City of Leavenworth provided a required matching local source at $81,996; and the Commission approved this amount for three years out of the economic development portion of the Countywide Sales Tax. The City of Leavenworth approached The Guidance Center, a local behavioral health clinic, about partnering with them and the Kansas Department of Transportation to provide the City of Leavenworth's first-ever modern public transportation service.

The Guidance Center has been providing transportation to its behavioral health clients for more than 30 years, making the local clinic a logical partner for the City. The Guidance Center's experience with grant management, hiring, driver training, safety practices, drug testing and vehicle maintenance will allow the program to run smoothly and efficiently. The Guidance Center Board of Directors and Administration see this as an additional service they can provide to the citizens of Leavenworth. Ridership will include everyone needing transportation in the community, regardless of whether they receive services from The Guidance Center or not. There are two options to schedule a ride. Potential riders can call The Guidance Center’s dispatch line, 913-7589443, or download an app, “Iris – A RideKC Partner” on Google Play or the Apple Store. Currently users of the Iris App will see the Kansas City service. After April 10, users will be able to select “Leavenworth” as a zone within the service.

Rides will not connect to Kansas City at this time.

(Cover photo: Community leaders with RideLV vans in March - Commissioner Edd Hingula, Mayor Jermaine Wilson, Commissioner Nancy Bauder, The Guidance Center Director Keith Rickard and Commissioner Camalla Leonhard, not pictured Mayor Pro Tem Griff Martin. The vans are part of a new Micro Transit program available to everyone this spring.)