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Chandler City Council extends contract for city-operated ride share service

The Chandler City Council has extended its contract for a city-operated ride share service.

Chandler Flex is an on-demand, shared transportation service, where a minivan picks up passengers and takes them where they want to go.

In 2022, the city launched a hybrid between a bus service and an Uber. It picks up passengers within a limited area at specific stops for $2 per ride, or $1 for seniors or people with disabilities.

"People with disabilities often will use it to get to the senior center, which is great because that reduces the amount of trips that we offer on Paratransit, which is a much more expensive service for the city to provide," Transportation Planning Manager Jason Crampton said. He added that the focus of the first two years has been providing free rides for students.

“Getting kids to and from school especially for before and after school activities when they might not have access to bus service or if maybe they are just outside of the school bussing area," he said. “Student ridership probably makes up between 40 and 50 percent of all of our trips."

The city was given a $2 million grant through the A for Arizona Transportation Modernization Grant Program to cover most of the costs for its first two years. Those funds will expire at the end of June.

The extension will be funded by a combination of general and Arizona Lottery funds.

Senior field correspondent Bridget Dowd has a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.