MoGo

The MoGo on-demand rideshare service was a pilot program funded by a grant. The City has worked to secure funding to extend MoGo, but there is not a readily-available permanent funding source for the service. The last day of service is February 15, 2025.  

At current ridership levels, MoGo costs $29.50 per ride. Fares paid by passengers range from $1.00 to $2.50 per one-way trip. These fares are set based on benchmarking in other similar markets. At this level, fare revenue covers just 4% of the direct operating cost. The City evaluated a fare increase to help pay for the service. However, it is not feasible for fares to cover a significant cost of the service and remain affordable for users. This leads to fewer users, which further destabilizes the service’s efficiency and cost recovery potential.  

As a pilot program, MoGo was designed to test an innovative public transportation model in Morgan Hill. Based on the City’s experience over two years, the service model had successes and challenges. MoGo received positive feedback from users and achieved strong on-time performance. However, MoGo also experienced operational challenges and ridership fell short of target. With MoGo ridership averaging 81 trips per day (compared to a goal of 150 trips per day), MoGo was less efficient than originally modeled. Ultimately, this service model is difficult to sustain without significant dedicated taxpayer subsidy due to its high per-ride operating cost and low potential for fare recovery. Our team will continue to explore innovative transit options for our Morgan Hill community.  

The Morgan Hill community embraced MoGo and it was promoted widely by our community partners and team. MoGo had 1,527 users in its first two years. While the community is widely aware of MoGo and a portion of our residents have become regular users, the ridership level of 81 passengers per day is far short of the program goal of 150 daily passengers. The City and our MoGo operator continuously evaluated customer feedback and performance metrics to adapt the service to meet user needs and increase ridership. As a pilot program, it was determined that MoGo’s three vehicles in service maxed out at a lower ridership level than planned. This was due to Morgan Hill being geographically dispersed, concentrated peak demand times, and below expected shared rides.  These factors reduce the number of passengers that can be supported with three vehicles. To increase ridership, more vans would need to be put into service. However, that would increase costs leading to a less sustainable operation. 

MoGo Morgan Hill Quick Ride is funded with 2016 Measure B Innovative Transit Service Models program funds under the Transit Operations Program Area goal of supporting new/innovative transit service models that will address first/last mile connections and transit services for the transit dependent, vulnerable populations, and paratransit users that is safe and accountable. 

MoGo helps expand ride-hailing technology to public transit customers, including historically underserved communities and populations, along with areas of the County where fixed-route bus or rail service is less frequent or unavailable.