Alternative Transit Study

Following completion of a transit feasibility study in 2019, in October of 2021, the Town launched a node-based, on-demand microtransit system, known as the Morrisville Smart Shuttle. Since its inception through the end of 2025, the Smart Shuttle has provided greater than 89,000 rides to more than 2,700 unique riders. The Smart Shuttle has experienced increased demand and pressure on its service capacity each year, and several challenges related to the operating capacity of the current system remain that limit the system's ability to most effectively serve public demand.

Ride booking availability based on available capacity has declined, ride wait times have increased or become more variable and unpredictable, and shared rides have been limited to just over 50% of the total trips provided by the system.   In response to these challenges, in 2024, the Town commissioned an alternative transit study to comprehensively evaluate the performance of the existing service, collect community feedback, and explore various service models and other options to improve and optimize the Town's public transit service as the local transit market in Morrisville has taken hold and the community continues to grow and evolve.

The Morrisville Town Council accepted the final report for the study in February of 2026 and directed staff to begin implementation of its recommendations. The recommendations of the study point to retention of the existing node-based microtransit service model with various capacity, service efficiency, and access improvements in the short term and continued exploration and preparation for a potential fixed-route solution in the longer term to either be supplemented by microtransit service or to replace microtransit service entirely if certain key market indicators trigger such an investment. The information collected and evaluated, and the steps taken to carry out the study, are documented in the final report for the study available here(PDF, 10MB).

For additional information please contact Phillip Vereen, Senior Transportation Planner, at 919-463-6178 or via email.