GoZone ridership in Highland Village has doubled since January 2023, the Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) reported.

The agency said its member-city services across Highland Village, Lewisville and Denton, along with its regional vanpool program, grew 8% year over year in fiscal year 2026. The figures appeared in a DCTA-sponsored report published in the Cross Timbers Gazette on Sept. 26. Member-city ridership has now grown every year since fiscal year 2022, making fiscal year 2026 the fifth consecutive year of gains.

A-train commuter rail ridership rose 4% in fiscal year 2026, also the fifth straight year of growth for the line.

The transit industry nationally is delivering about 80% of the trips it handled before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to DCTA. The agency said it has fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

DCTA CEO Paul Cristina pointed to the GoZone on-demand service and route changes the agency has made over the past several years.

"This growth reflects the increasing need for public transportation in Denton County as the region expands," Cristina said in the Sept. 26 report.

GoZone launched in September 2021 as an on-demand rideshare service, powered by Via, operating in two zones: Denton and Lewisville/Highland Village. A single ride costs $1.50.

DCTA's own budget documents back the growth trend. The fiscal year 2026 budget, published in January, described fiscal year 2025 member-city ridership as up nearly 8% year over year and called it the fourth consecutive year of growth at that time. Highland Village GoZone ridership rose 15% and Lewisville's rose 12% in fiscal year 2025, according to the budget.

In May, DCTA secured $2,295,000 in federal funding from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to buy three 35-foot diesel buses. The agency said the new buses will let it shift more GoZone resources to Highland Village and Lewisville by streamlining fixed routes in Denton.

Lewisville has seen GoZone ridership jump nearly 40% in fiscal year 2026 alone. Overall Denton transit ridership has climbed nearly 50% over the past five years, according to DCTA.

The three new buses, funded through the FTA's Buses and Bus Facilities Competitive Program, are part of DCTA's plan to expand GoZone service hours in the Lewisville and Highland Village zone.