Arlington Bus Service Ends Friday

ARLINGTON (CBS11) - After four years, Friday will be the final day for the Metro Arlington Xpress, or MAX.

Earlier this year, the City of Arlington voted to no longer fund city's only traditional public transportation system.

"That's awful. That's my only way of transportation right now," said Daniel Collier, who uses the bus service to get to and from school and work. "It's going to hit a lot of people. It's their only way to get around."

The service began in 2013 as a two-year pilot partnership between DART, Fort Worth Transportation Authority, and the City of Arlington. At the time, Arlington was the largest city in the U.S. without public transportation.

The city extended the program for an additional two years but ridership failed to reach expectations.

Some days the bus service, which travels between UT Arlington and the Trinity Railway Express CentrePort / DFW Airport Station, had less than a hundred total riders.

In place of the bus service, this month the city launched an on-demand van ride-sharing program known as Via. Similar to Uber or Lyft, Via rides can be requested through a smartphone app.

City officials said the Via service range will be expanded sometime next month.

Running MAX cost $700,000 a year, but the City of Arlington only paid for fraction of the expense. UT Arlington along with federal grants also helped pay for the service.