Precinct 1 Commissioner Peter Jones has been updating the Commissioners Court on the upcoming transition of Llano County rural transit from The Hill Country Transit District (The HOP or HCTD) to the Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS) for several months. Jones expressed a positive interest in the switch after meeting with the General Manager and Assistant General Manager of CARTS in August, calling it a “premiere interconnected system.”
There are a few key components that differentiate the two rural transit systems, Jones explained to the courtroom.
1) CARTS does not and will not provide student transportation. The HOP currently facilitates 48 student rides per month between LISD campuses and Llano Christian Academy. The school bus system is, however, already available as an alternate mode of transportation for these students.
2) CARTS does not currently provide Medicaid transportation, which accounts for 422 monthly rides on The HOP. CARTS is considering adding this service.
3) CARTS provides other types of transportation services such as airport transportation, which The HOP does not.
4) HOP rides are free, whereas riders would pay somewhere in the range of $2.00 - $6.00 per ride with CARTS.
5) The cost of the CARTS program to Llano County would be significantly less than the cost for The HOP, which currently takes $155,000/year from the Llano County budget. Jones gave the example that Burnet County pays around $8,000/year for their CARTS program.
The transition from the HOP to CARTS is underway and should be ready for a smooth transition on March 1, 2025. On that date, Llano County will vacate its seat on the HCTD board and assume it's seat on the CARTS board. CARTS will accept the existing fleet and hire the 4 people currently employed by the HOP. CARTS will provide their own fleet for primary use and The HOP fleet will be used for backup. Jones anticipates a decrease in the rural transit budget by switching to CARTS, but the amount of that decrease has not been released.
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