One of the main story threads throughout the six year history of this newsletter is the future of public transportation. Both Albemarle and Charlottesville have ambitious plans for urban density and over the last six years I’ve provided a glimpse into efforts to better coordinate transit services in a community with multiple agencies.
One of them is Jaunt, a public service corporation owned by several area governments including Albemarle County. This is a different legal structure than both Charlottesville Area Transit and the University Transit Service which are solely owned by one entity.
On June 3, CEO Mike Murphy appeared before the Albemarle Board of Supervisors to encourage them to consider his agency when thinking about the future.
“You are owners of Jaunt and that should always be clear,” Murphy said. “For that reason, Jaunt ought to be thought of as your most flexible partner when you’re thinking about your needs in this area in the region.”
Murphy’s briefing comes at a time when the Charlottesville Albemarle Regional Transit Authority is in its infancy. The body is the successor to a Regional Transit Partnership created in 2017 that oversaw creation of a vision for regional transit. While CARTA is now a political subdivision of Virginia government, its only members are Albemarle County and Charlottesville. None of the transit organizations are members.
“Jaunt has always been a partner at RTP and continues to be a partner at CARTA,” Murphy said. “Right now, as I hope you know, there’s a prioritization process happening about what projects come forward and there will be down the road potentially a request to generate revenue with the permission of the General Assembly. And in my vision, you know, I believe that each of the providers serves an important role.”
The first iteration of that process put a route from Buckingham County as the one most worth investing in, as I reported earlier this month.
Murphy said Jaunt provides around 4,000 paratransit trips a month in a service area required by the Americans with Disabilities Act to be offered within a footprint that is based on and expanded from Charlottesville Area Transit’s service area. He also said there is potential to extend fixed-route service further north into Albemarle.
“When we did our customer survey in 2025, we heard a lot about ‘could you stop in this new apartment complex here on 29 North?’” Murphy said. “And with the, you know, pharmaceuticals coming in with an opportunity to perhaps stop at UVA North Fork, there is every possibility that we could do that if we’re running fixed route up into Ruckersville, Stanardsville.”
Murphy said Jaunt is seeking grant funding for a demonstration route called Greene County CONNECT to do just that.
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