ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The City of Albuquerque is launching its own rideshare service, just like Uber and Lyft, except this service is free. For now, ABQ RIDE Connect will be limited to the areas that need it most.

Residents will be able to download an app and book rides. The service will be made up of five electric vans. With just a click, you can request a ride to places like the grocery store, or to connect to your bus route.

The app is set to launch on Monday, March 18, but only in the South Valley and North Valley. Both are areas that ABQ RIDE says are underserved.

ABQ RIDE spokesperson Megan Holcomb says there isn’t necesarrily a need for more bus routes. That’s because many people in those communities rely on their personal vehicles, but that’s not the case for everyone.

“So these zones don’t have a ton of fixed route service,” Holcomb said. “With the mixed demographics in those areas, it does call for some transportation services.”

This also solves another problem for ABQ RIDE — a lack of bus drivers.

Drivers of the Connect vans are not required to hold a commercial driver’s license, which opens up the hiring pool.

This is a pilot program for now, but expansion is not out of the question. It will depend on rider feedback.

“It is a yearlong pilot program so throughout that year we’ll kind of evaluate, we’ll see feedback from our riders who can submit that through the app directly,” Holcomb said. “If we do have the demand for it, I think expanding is definitely in the future.”

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