New Trinity Metro partnership targets travel in the Alliance Corridor

The Trinity Metro wants to make it easier for riders to get where they are going.

They are partnering with Lyft to provide transportation in the Alliance Corridor.

The Zip Zone will provide what planners call "first and last mile transportation.”

According to Trinity Metro, some 250 people use the express bus service to Alliance daily. They’re hoping even more people will use it thanks to this new partnership with Lyft.

In an effort to keep bus riders mobile, Trinity Metro and the Denton County Transportation Authority launched a partnership with Lyft in February to provide free rides to commuters who use the express bus service to Alliance.

Detra Whitmore is the vice president of administration for Trinity Metro. She says the so-called Zip Zone program allows riders to take a Lyft car from one of six bus stops within the Alliance Corridor to another part of campus within a one-mile radius.

Whitmore says some 61,000 people work in the area.

“If you have a Lyft app on your phone, basically you will purchase your bus pass. Right now, they're free,” she explained. “So you just show the Lyft driver your bus driver. They'll take you to your place of employment in Alliance.”

Bus rider Davis Hoosey doesn't work in the Alliance development but loves the idea. He plans to use it if and when the Zip Zone is expanded into other areas.

“That'd be great cause you wouldn’t have to wait for 20 minutes or so in the cold,” he said.

Whitmore says Trinity Metro will look at expanding Zip Zone to other areas if it proves to be popular at Alliance.