Ridership of Lane Transit District buses reached an all-time high in January with close to 8.7 million boardings over the previous 12 months and an 8 percent ridership increase over the past six months.
LTD riders measured between February 2005 to January 2006 showed a 9.5 percent increase on weekdays, a 25 percent increase on Saturdays, and an 11 percent increase on Sundays.
LTD spokesman Andy Vobora said an average of 12,000 to 15,000 people, including round trip riders, board a bus each day, which equals an average of 35,500 boardings each week day.
Vobora said the economy and fuel prices has contributed to a significant increase in bus ridership over the past few years.
“There are a combination of reasons for increases in the ridership, but I think gas prices and increased overall costs are definitely part of it,” Vobora said.
Vobora said the increase in bus ridership has led LTD to consider adding extra bus services by increasing the frequency of bus arrivals and to increase the span of hours during which buses run during the day.
“Overall we feel that we’ve been able to accommodate the number of riders,” said Vobora. “But the staff feels that if we keep seeing 10 percent increases, then people will stop riding the buses because of the overcrowding.”
Vobora said budgetary concerns caused by recessions in 2001 and 2002 made LTD cut back on its services, which contributed to ridership numbers flattening out. Now that ridership numbers have continued to increase, he said LTD expects the use of 60-foot buses and the new EmX bus service to ease the problem of overcrowding. Additional bus services are also being planned for bus route No. 98 to Cottage Grove.
A report released by LTD said the new School Transit Pass Program, initiated by the Smart Ways to School Program, accounts for half of the growth in ridership. Similar to the University’s bus pass system, the program provides stickers on school identification cards to more than 22,000 students in grades six through 12 in the Eugene, Springfield and Bethel school districts. The stickers allow them to ride on LTD buses anytime for free. Before the program was started, students paid either a monthly price of $17.50 or a $1.25 day pass.
According to Lisa VanWinkle, the Smart Ways to School project coordinator, LTD and Pacific Continental Bank designed the program to cut down on school-related transit and build future ridership for LTD service.
VanWinkle said she believes that students have contributed to ridership growth.
“We have conducted student counts for a week each month, and it looks as if 12 to 25 percent of the students who could be using it are using it,” she said.
VanWinkle said drivers had reported seeing an equal percentage of middle-school and high-school riders, which she viewed as a positive thing, considering that many high school students have the ability to drive.
Smart Ways to School conducted a test program from February to June 2005, covering 5,000 students in three high schools and six alternative schools. The success of the test program led them to expand the program to its current coverage and will run until June 2006, when it will be reviewed by the Oregon Department of Energy. VanWinkle said before the program comes under review, the program staff is considering expanding free bus services to a larger area and to begin the program in September instead of in October.
Vobora said University student ridership has remained consistent over the past few years with an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 students riding the bus each day.
Vobora said LTD’s rate of ridership is above average in relationship to the size of its services. He said a number of factors could contribute to a decrease in LTD ridership, but they expect it to keep growing or to keep at a steady rate.
Contact the city, state politics reporter at [email protected]
