Topping 10 million rides for the first time and doubling its ridership since 2004 are just two of the factors indicating the public has placed a new emphasis on using public transit. With the increase comes more buses and an early start on construction of the bus operations facility expansion.
According to excerpts from the story:
While auto sales may be down, bus ridership is up. The Rapid CEO Peter Varga told county commissioners recently that his transit service is on pace to top the 10-million ride mark before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30. Reaching that plateau would be a first for the public system and would mean an increase of more than 1 million riders over last year when The Rapid topped 9 million for the first time.
Varga also noted ridership has doubled since 2004 and people going to and from work were what led the increase. "The primary reason is work related," he said.
But one work-related transit service is likely to come to a halt down the road. Varga said the County Connection, a pilot program in its second year, will likely lose its funding in fiscal year 2011. Grants from Job Access and Reverse Commute along with state funds provided the fuel for the county-wide, on-demand service that has been used rather extensively by Department of Human Services' clients as a means to get to work. Varga said the service made 35,952 trips in 2008.
"We will run out of money," he said. "Most of the trips are subsidized."
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