Topeka Metro presented a three-year review of its Microtransit (MOD) service and announced board decisions to shrink the service zone and raise fares after finding the on-demand model expensive per trip.

Bob Nugent, Topeka Metro general manager, told the council the pilot grew out of post‑COVID route studies and aimed to serve low‑ridership corridors and narrow‑street neighborhoods. Metro initially set a $2 base fare and anticipated 15‑minute pickups in a seven‑square‑mile zone served by a single vehicle but found demand patterns and long trips pushed wait times and operating costs up.

Nugent said the service has been operating at roughly $50+ per trip and that the board voted to reduce the MOD service area from seven to four square miles, make one portion of the route a premium zone and raise base fares. "We are going to ... make that a premium fare," Nugent said, describing the premium as $15 (the same premium fare Metro charges for out-of-zone ADA 'Lift' trips). He added the board voted to increase the MOD base fare from $2 to $6 to reduce operational mileage and better allocate trips to the higher-demand corridors.

Nugent told the council that microtransit “works best in very, very low‑ridership areas and sparsely populated areas or in areas ... that really have narrow streets” and that it cannot replace high‑capacity fixed routes in a cost‑effective way. He said Metro will keep MOD as a tool for certain corridors and weekend service gaps while emphasizing fixed‑route service for high‑demand corridors.

Council members asked how a round trip would be charged (Nugent said two fares for two trips), whether fares on fixed routes would change (they will not), and how the changes would affect accessibility; Nugent said ADA‑certified out‑of‑zone trips would continue to use Metro's Lift service. The council did not take action; Metro reported the board had already approved the changes.