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In the wake of a licensing snafu, Mountain View’s free shuttle services will likely not be running again until Wednesday, June 24 at the earliest, according to a city news update.
On Thursday morning, the city suspended all operations of MVgo and the Mountain View Community Shuttle after learning that WeDriveU, the contracted operator, did not have a valid state license required to run the shuttles.
The license is administered by the California Public Utilities Commission, a state agency that regulates utility companies. CPUC records show that WeDriveU’s certification expired on June 9 and that a new one was issued on June 18.
The Mountain View Transportation Management Association, a nonprofit that oversees the city’s transportation services, only learned about the expired permit Wednesday evening, according to Roni Hattrup, MTMA executive director. This led the city to temporarily suspend services for MVgo and the community shuttle Thursday morning.
“We’ve acted quickly,” Hattrup told the Voice Thursday afternoon. “That resulted in [the] suspension of services temporarily until we can have some validation on the licensing. We are exploring every possibility to reinstate services as soon as possible.”
A WeDriveU spokesperson told the Voice Thursday evening that CPUC renewed the company’s permit that day.
“We thank CPUC for confirming today that WeDriveU’s permit for private charter services is renewed and active, building on our over 30 years as a PUC-authorized operator,” WeDriveU said in an emailed statement.
The statement added that “CPUC has been collaborative in clearing two key locations to resume operations immediately.” WeDriveU did not provide details about the “two key locations,” and the spokesperson did not respond to Voice questions about the reason for the lapsed certification or when shuttle services would resume in Mountain View.
On Friday afternoon, Hattrup confirmed that WeDriveU has received certification, pending California Highway Patrol inspections of the fleet terminals. The inspection is scheduled for June 23, Hattrup said in an emailed statement. If the inspection is successful, the CPUC will issue the necessary approvals.
“At this time, we do not have a confirmed timeline for completion of this process and are therefore unable to provide a date for when services will be reinstated,” she said.
Hattrup added that MTMA is still exploring a potential temporary solution to get the shuttle services up sooner than anticipated.
“Details are still being finalized, and we will provide updates as additional information becomes available,” she said.
In the meantime, MTMA plans to continue providing Uber vouchers during the service interruption, according to the city news release.
About 1,000 passengers use the Mountain View Community Shuttle and another 350 use MVgo every weekday, Hattrup said. The community shuttle has 50 stops throughout the city that includes service to shopping centers, parks, the senior center, El Camino Hospital and the downtown area. MVgo is primarily geared toward commuters and helps with “last-mile” connections to and from local bus, light rail and train stations.
