BellHop is up and running in Bellevue, Wash.
The free, on-demand electric shuttle service launched Tuesday to provide rides around the downtown core and help alleviate parking and last-mile headaches in the growing city east of Seattle. The service is a partnership between Visit Bellevue and Circuit, a transportation company operating in about 34 cities across the U.S.
GeekWire hopped in for a couple rides, testing the roughly 4-mile service area that stretches between attractions such as Bellevue Square, Old Main Street, Bellevue Botanical Gardens, Bellevue Downtown Park and the Spring District.
Keep reading for our insights from the test.
Launching the app
Users can request a ride using the Circuit app (iOS, Android) or by flagging one of the cars on the street. Rather than try that second option, I downloaded the app on my iPhone and quickly filled in some of the vitals: name, email, phone number. I was sent verification codes for my phone, via text, and my email and once approved, I was ready to request a ride.
With my 10-year old daughter along as a sidekick, we started on Main Street, on the southwest edge of the service boundary, and decided to make the Spring District, on the northeast edge, our first ride destination. There’s no need to stand in any designated pick-up areas or stations.
The app quickly searched for a driver and told me it located Conrad, and said he would be arriving in about one minute. Four minutes later, Conrad pulled up.
First ride
The six-door BellHop vehicle arrived looking like a cross between an oversized golf cart and a rolling billboard. After the initial pilot program, if Visit Bellevue sticks with the service, it will pay for it all by selling advertising on the vehicle.
Kate and I jumped into the seats behind the driver, leaving two empty behind us. The inside of the vehicle had a utilitarian feel, with large, manual windows and plastic flooring under foot. The seats were comfy and the passenger compartment had plenty of head room.
Our driver, Conrad Hoernke, is Circuit’s supervisor for the Bellevue market. All drivers are employees of Circuit. He got into logistics working as a military contractor, moving people and goods all over the globe.
“Now I do last-mile transit versus global transit,” Hoernke said. “And the thing that inspired me to do that was just being able to do what I’m doing right now. And that’s talking to each individual, and being able to understand why they’re doing what they’re doing and get their story and just enjoy people.”
At 12:42 p.m. when Hoernke picked us up, he said he’d already given 10 rides since starting at 9 a.m. He also said there were five BellHop cars on the road on Tuesday.
BellHop operates as a carpool service, so drivers can pick up other passengers along the way. This happened a couple minutes into our ride as Hoernke doubled back to grab another passenger.
Jane Kantor got in and she just happened to work for Visit Bellevue, so she offered up her admittedly biased view of how great the service was so far on Tuesday.
“I’m enough of a nerd that I’ve been waving at people because I’m so excited about it,” Kantor said. “And then they see [the car] and you can tell they look at it and they’re like, ‘What is that?’ because it’s a new thing, it’s quiet, it’s clean and it’s got a great design to it.”
Google Maps estimated our trip distance would be 2.3 miles and about eight minutes by car. With the extra passenger pick up factored in, here are the BellHop ride details:
- Ride pick up: 12:42 p.m.
- Ride drop off: 1:04 p.m.
- Total ride time: 22 minutes
Second ride
We were dropped at Spring District Park, a small green space in the middle of the massive office and housing development. REI once had big growth plans here before selling its planned headquarters campus to Meta for $360 million in late 2020.
Kate and I grabbed a bite and beverage at Bellevue Brewing Company before relaunching the Circuit app to plan a trip over to Bellevue Square mall. The app located our driver, Shakeira, and said she’d be there in four minutes, then one minute, before she eventually pulled up in seven.
Shakeira Jones had completed four rides before grabbing us, and she said her customers seemed comfortable with the service so far — including one ride to a “secret Amazon building,” as she put it.
Jones found the Circuit job via Indeed. She previously drove for Hopelink, a nonprofit that provides services, including transportation, to low-income families.
Midway through our ride, Jones got a carpool request from a couple making a trip to H Mart, a grocery store on 108th Avenue Northeast.
Mike and Helen Lai have lived in Bellevue for 20 years and decided to try BellHop after reading about its launch. They live just outside the service area and walked about two blocks to their pick-up spot. The app’s estimated arrival time for the driver kept fluctuating, which was a bit frustrating for Mike Lai, and he had trouble figuring out how to move the pick-up location pin in the app.
“But it will be useful, especially in winter when the weather is bad,” Mike Lai said. “And for seniors it would be good.”
Google Maps estimated our trip distance would be 2 miles and about eight minutes by car. With the extra passengers factored in, here are the BellHop ride details:
- Ride pick up: 1:38 p.m.
- Ride drop off: 2:15 p.m.
- Total ride time: 37 minutes
Other details
- The BellHop app’s initial estimated time of arrival for the driver kept changing and was not accurate on both GeekWire trips.
- If you’re in a hurry to catch a work meeting or a movie start time, BellHop’s carpool-style service could create some anxiety if your ride is interrupted by additional passenger pick-ups and stops. The service felt great in my test rides because I had nowhere to be in a hurry.
- The 25 mph max speed can feel a little slow on certain Bellevue streets where cars might be moving 30 to 40 mph. Being in an electric golf cart, essentially, felt disconcerting next to a giant truck or SUV a couple times.
- There’s no tipping in the Circuit app. Hoernke said drivers can accept tips from passengers by sharing their personal Venmo details. That process was not being encouraged on Tuesday.
- The ride details show up in a passenger’s email with the subject line “Your ride receipt from Circuit.” That wording could be a little startling to a rider who thought they just rode for free, but the receipt only shows ride times and locations.
- The cars will be available Sunday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
