Some weekdays, Chesterfield County residents may see vans emblazoned with the purple logo of the Greater Richmond Transit Company shuttling along the Hull Street Road corridor.
The vans are part of GRTC’s LINK program, a “microtransit” service that debuted in November 2023. Riders in Chesterfield County's designated zone, which extends from Chippenham Parkway past Route 288, can use the GRTC on the Go mobile app to request a fare-free ride to any other point in the area — including GRTC bus stops.
“Public transit is for everybody, but there are places where the density of your community might not support a bus,” said GRTC spokesperson Henry Bendon. He said LINK came out of a 2021 regional study into how the transportation system could expand.
In addition to Chesterfield, LINK offers microtransit service around Anderson Highway in Powhatan County, Ashland in Hanover County, the Azalea Avenue–Meadowbridge Road corridor straddling Hanover and Henrico counties, and Sandston near Richmond International Airport.
“We were looking for something that could fill in a need where local bus service may not be as feasible,” said Chessa Walker, Chesterfield County’s director of transportation. She said the Hull Street Road corridor was chosen in part because of several popular destinations in the area — including shopping centers, Rockwood Park and the Manchester YMCA.
Another main purpose of the LINK program is to keep pedestrians off of high-traffic roadways that don’t always have adequate sidewalks. Officials are also hoping usage statistics will help determine where new bus stops would be warranted.
VPM News took the LINK service for a spin earlier this month. The app's GPS wasn’t completely precise — the van ended up about a block away from the requested location — but a dispatcher quickly called to clarify. Within the 20-minute window specified by GRTC, your intrepid reporter was on his way from the corner of Turner and Belmont roads to the Dollar Tree at Chippenham Mall.
GRTC and Chesterfield officials both said it's too early in the program’s lifespan to tell how much buy-in will occur — a sentiment echoed by the transit advocacy group RVA Rapid Transit.
“The No. 1 challenge is letting the public know that this is a service that’s now available,” said Stephanie Power, RVA Rapid Transit’s community engagement manager.
She added that transportation is “so inherent in our day-to-day activities that if we already have our transportation plans in our minds … we’re not necessarily looking for a new option that wasn’t there before.”
