A micro-transit service will be coming to Truckee this summer.

Truckee Town Council unanimously approved a contract with Downtowner, Inc. to operate a free summer micro-transit program in the area for a cost not to exceed $60,977.

“Our current system is great at serving a lot of our transit-dependent folks,” said Alfred Knotts, transit program manager. “It doesn’t meet a lot of other trips, a lot of discretionary trips … we want to evaluate that against our current system.”

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The pilot program will begin June 25 and run through Sept. 5. Service will be provided using a fleet of seven passenger vans with an additional backup vehicle. Vans will seat between six and nine passengers and will be equipped with bicycle racks. Two vehicles will be wheelchair accessible. Vans will run seven days a week from 10 a.m. through 10 p.m. and will be available to book through a mobile app that provides estimated pickup times and mapping to show users the van’s arrival time.

Vans will service Tahoe Donner, Glenshire, downtown, and around Tahoe Forest Hospital with a goal to provide at least 90% of trips within a 30-minute window.

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The cost of the pilot project, which will make use of Tahoe Truckee Area Regional Transportation Connect branding, is estimated to be $460,977. Truckee will pay a third of that cost through American Rescue Plan funds. Additional funding will come from the Truckee Business Improvement District, Tahoe Forest Hospital, and the Glenshire and Tahoe Donner special service areas.

Last summer, similar Tahoe Truckee Area Regional Transportation Connect programs in Tahoe City saw 14,194 passengers. Kings Beach had 11,040 passengers, and Incline Village had 24,256 passengers.

Vice Mayor Lindsay Romack also works as an analyst for Placer County and has worked with the county’s department of public works on North Tahoe’s Connect program.

“I have been able to see how successful it’s been, so I’m very excited for it to come to Truckee,” said Romack. “I’ve also gotten to see a lot of data that comes in and it’s incredible.”

The success of the program will be evaluated against the current system and could come back to Town Council for deliberation.

Justin Scacco is a staff writer with the Sierra Sun. He can be reached at jscacco@sierrasun.com