Mountain Metro Bus Ridership Up Over 5% In 2019

Colorado Springs CO

08 December, 2019

2:00 PM

Description

From the City of Colorado Springs: Sun, 12/08/2019 - 8:00am While many transit agencies across the country continue to suffer from declining ridership, Mountain Metro's bus ridership is up 5.19% compared to 2018. Mountain Metro won Large Community Transit Agency of the Year for improving accessibility to bus stops which has contributed, in part, to the increase in ridership. Over the past year Mountain Metro has added 1.3 miles of sidewalk, 67 ADA-compliant pedestrian ramps and 71 concrete bus bench and shelter pads. Additional bus service was also added in 2019: New Saturday evening service on 13 routes Sunday frequency improvements, a bus every 30 minutes instead of every 60 minutes on 5 routes New Route 38 – express service to UC Health Memorial Hospital North and Children's Hospital Americans took 9.9 billion transit trips in 2018, a 2% decline from 2017 according to a report from the American Public Transportation Association, with bus ridership falling 1.84%. Some reasons for the national decline in bus ridership are attributed to: Lower gasoline prices Increased car ownership Increased bicycling and bike sharing Expansion of transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft Mountain Metropolitan Transit provides local fixed-route bus service and Metro Mobility ADA paratransit service for Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak region. All buses use clean diesel technology and are wheelchair-lift equipped. Mountain Metropolitan Transit also provides other services such as Metro Rides' ridesharing, vanpool, and bicycling programs. For added convenience, there are bike racks on all buses for riders who want to utilize the bike-n-bus program. For additional information regarding Mountain Metropolitan Transit please visit www.mmtransit.com (link is external), or call (719) 385-RIDE (7433). This press release was produced by the City of Colorado Springs. The views expressed here are the author's own.