City’s Transit Overhaul Gets National Notice

ALBUQUERQUE – The City’s transit department, ABQ RIDE, was recognized for its ambitious and budget-neutral transit network redesign, all while balancing staffing challenges, at an American Public Transportation Association (APTA) workshop in St. Louis, Missouri, this week. 

“We’re putting Albuquerque on the map again with more improvements to mass transit,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “From going zero-fare and launching a dedicated safety team through our police department to leaning on technology to boost reliability, we keep making it better.”

The department’s principal planner, Andrew de Garmo, presented alongside Michelle Poyourow, the lead consultant for ABQ RIDE from Jarrett Walker + Associates, the consultants who helped with the redesign, ABQ RIDE Forward. 

For bus riders, ABQ RIDE Forward means more frequent, convenient bus service. For transit professionals, the redesign stands out for its basis in community input and its innovative, multiphase implementation to accommodate limited staff.

“It’s exciting to be part of a network redesign that truly benefits the public,” said de Garmo. “Hopefully our agency’s experience can support others as they take on ambitious projects with similar challenges.” 

When asked what made ABQ RIDE Forward successful, he attributed the immense amount of community support and feedback, the delicate balance of maintaining service in important areas and also improving frequency, and the pandemic’s disruption, which exposed that the old network needed a refresh. Lastly de Garmo, who used public transportation to get around St. Louis during the conference, said that transit systems all have a lot to learn and teach one another.

“It’s a nice moment for Albuquerque to have our system commended on a national stage,” said ABQ RIDE Director Leslie Keener. “By listening to riders and responding to what they want to see in public transit, we’ve built a service that’s making a difference here at home and inspiring transit leaders everywhere.”

ABQ RIDE Forward

ABQ RIDE Forward is a generational route update to Albuquerque’s fixed route bus system that began in 2022 and is launching in 16-phases; the first phase in December of 2025 and the final anticipated to launch in 2029. Based on community feedback, the network balances high-frequency with high-coverage and will increase service levels, replace inefficient bus routes with microtransit, add more weekend service, and increase evening service hours. 

The route redesign considered many factors including rider preferences, travel trends and patterns, geography, budget, equitable access, key infrastructure such as destinations and transit hubs, vehicle capacity, staffing, population density, and proximity to housing.  

APTA Conference

ABQ RIDE’s presentation covered the phased planning process leading to the final route network and offered advice to agencies on the importance of stakeholder and political support, implementing major network changes despite workforce constraints, and managing strategic phased implementation to uphold steady progress. 

Learn more about Albuquerque’s transit system and ABQ RIDE Forward. 

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ABQ RIDE’s mission is to provide the community with clean, safe, and reliable transportation.