As of next month, Marin Transit’s experimental on-demand ride service, Marin Connect, will expand service to new areas of San Rafael including downtown, but will also be more expensive to use.

The agency’s board of directors voted this week to expand Marin Connect’s service area in February from its limited range in Terra Linda to downtown San Rafael and northern parts of San Rafael, including portions of Lucas Valley and Santa Venetia.

The expansion is meant to respond to the public’s demands for a larger service area, attract greater use among senior and disabled residents, and address the high subsidy rates the agency is paying per passenger, said Robert Betts, Marin Transit operations and planning director.

The service has continued to expand ridership, reducing the per passenger subsidy from as high as $148 in early 2019 to about $32 as of January, but it’s still below the agency’s goal.

“Our target here is $15 so we clearly need to make a lot of progress here for this service to be sustainable in our minds,” Betts told the board.

The expanded service range includes areas such as the downtown San Rafael Transit Center and SMART station; Whistlestop’s Active Aging Center; the Marin Center for Independent Living; the San Rafael Community Center; Kaiser Permanente’s downtown offices; and local grocery stores. Staff said they hope this will increase demand. Other areas include areas in Santa Venetia adjacent to North San Pedro Road; Marinwood near Miller Creek Road; and Lucas Valley Road toward Mt. McKinley Road, according to the agency.

Fares for the service will increase significantly next month. Currently, fares are at a flat rate of $4 or $2 for Marin Access riders. In February, the fares will change to a distance-based rate of $4 per mile, but Marin Access riders will still pay a flat fare of $3.

In addition, the transit stop discount, which reduces fares by half, to $2, if the rider is picked up or dropped off at a transit stop, will be discontinued in February. About 95% of discount users were being picked up from the Civic Center SMART station, Betts said.

The monthly pass will increase from $40 to $80.

The rate increase isn’t expected to have a significant financial hit for the average rider who travels about 1.1 miles per trip, Betts said. Trips in the newly expanded service area could reach up to about 6 miles, he said, or about $24. Riders will be given an estimate of the ride cost before they confirm their pickup, Betts said.

Currently a pilot program lasting through June, Marin Connect is Marin Transit’s foray into the on-demand ride market. In a world where Uber and Lyft dominate the market, Marin Connect seeks to find its niche by providing regional service to seniors and disabled passengers. However, about 10% to 15% of Marin Connect’s ridership falls into these categories, Betts said.

Two of the county’s largest employers, the county and Kaiser, have contracts with Marin Transit that allow their employees to use the service for free, with those riders making up the bulk of riders.

“When we look at some of these high subsidy rates for some of our riders who are fairly high-income riders, we want to kind of level the playing field there and put a bit more of a premium price on the service for those who can potentially afford to pay more for the service,” Betts told the board.

Board member and county supervisor Katie Rice questioned how the agency would balance its goal to provide senior and disabled riders this service while also working to reduce the passenger subsidies.

“We don’t want to be leaving someone stranded who, actually, the service is more targeted toward,” Rice said.

Board member Kate Colin, a San Rafael councilwoman, asked staff to continue presenting ridership and subsidy data in the coming months to determine how effective these changes are on improving ridership and reducing costs.

“We all want this program to succeed and we want to be looking at the data that we’re getting realistically so that we’re making appropriate decisions,” Colin said.

As of now, Marin Connect has typically been using three nine-seat vans during peak commute hours and one van for off-peak hours. The service is budgeted to use up to four vehicles during peak hours and two during non-peak hours, Betts said, but the agency does not have ability as of now to provide more vans beyond that.

The changes are set to take effect on Feb. 3.