562.570.6739
Joy.Contreras@longbeach.gov
Community Relations Officer
Department of Public Works
Long Beach, CA – Today, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022, the City of Long Beach debuted its Micro-Transit Shuttle program in the Alamitos Bay-Belmont Shore neighborhoods. This free micro-transit shuttle service, which will operate Thursdays through Sundays, is intended to support mobility programs for economic recovery, promote non-automotive transportation modes for trips under three miles and alleviate parking impacts by connecting to nearby underutilized parking lots.
"This Micro-Transit shuttle will offer easy transportation access to Belmont Shore for residents and visitors to our city,” said Mayor Robert Garcia. “This is a great opportunity to support our local businesses, reduce parking impacts and help drive our economy.”
Beginning Oct. 27, interested riders can access shuttle service in the Alamitos Bay-Belmont Shore neighborhoods by downloading the Ride Circuit mobile app, available from any app store, or by visiting ridecircuit.com/ride for more information.
The hours of operation will be:
- Thursday, 4 to 10 p.m.
- Friday, 4 to 10 p.m.
- Saturday, noon to 10 p.m.
- Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.
The City’s selected vendor, Circuit Inc. (Circuit), was awarded $1.14 million to provide an on-demand and fixed-route pick-up and drop-off electric-powered shuttle service for business districts, amenities, services and businesses in the Downtown-Alamitos Beach neighborhoods (Service Area 1) and Alamitos Bay-Belmont Shore neighborhoods (Service Area 2). Each of the 100 percent electric-powered shuttles has a capacity to transport up to five passengers. Two of the shuttles will be ADA-accessible to accommodate wheelchair use and are expected to be integrated into service in November.
The concept of a free ride program was brought to the Long Beach City Council by Third District Councilwoman Suzie Price, co-sponsored by former Councilmember Jeannine Pearce, and approved by the entire City Council in July 2019 after a successful eight-week demonstration project in Downtown. In March 2021, funding for the current program was added to the Recovery Plan by a motion from Councilwoman Price and Second District Councilwoman Cindy Allen.
“I am very glad to see this program getting underway for Belmont Shore and the Alamitos Bay today and that the Downtown program will be getting started soon,” said Third District Councilwoman Suzie Price. “Creative, out-of-the-box approaches are what are needed to address the issues we face, and this program will reduce car trips and the frustrations of finding parking for residents, while also supporting local businesses by helping people get to and from our popular business corridors. I can’t wait to try out the shuttles myself!”
Shuttle service for the Downtown-Alamitos Beach neighborhoods will begin Thursday, Nov. 10, and further information on the roll out of that program will be provided shortly.
For more information, visit the City of Long Beach Micro-Transit Shuttle program webpage.
This effort is made possible in part with funding from the Long Beach Recovery Act, a plan to fund economic and public health initiatives for Long Beach residents, workers and businesses critically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional information about the Long Beach Recovery Act is available at https://www.longbeach.gov/recovery