LEWISTON – Ridership on Citylink, the Twin Cities’ bus system, hit an all-time high in August, posting more than 19,000 rider trips.
That was up by nearly 3,000 over July’s figures and nearly 4,000 more trips than were counted a year earlier.
But Marsha Bennett, coordinator for the Lewiston-Auburn Transit Committee, couldn’t say whether the increase had anything to do with high gas prices.
“Ridership has been going up steadily for the past 18 months or so,” Bennett said Monday.
The most recent figures – those for August – were posted before gasoline prices spiked in the days immediately following Hurricane Katrina.
Bennett said she’d heard about one rider who left his car behind in favor of taking the connecting bus from Lisbon to the Twin Cities after fuel prices rose. But that’s all she’d heard.
A survey of riders taken last week targeted demographics and ridership patterns, but didn’t ask whether gas prices were affecting changes in travel. Bennett said some riders might have commented on fuel prices on the surveys, but she hasn’t tallied them yet.
Gas-related change could be in the offing, though.
“With gas prices now at record levels, more people across the country are turning to public transportation, and what they’re finding is that public transportation in the 21st century has been revolutionized by a wide array of advances,” said William W. Millar.
He’s president of the American Public Transportation Association. He made the comment in a news release touting an APTA transit expo being held this week in Dallas, Texas.
Millar claims high gas prices were already contributing to ridership growth before the spurt in charges spawned by Katrina.
Bennett said she couldn’t say that about local ridership. “We’re seeing an increase every month,” she said. But the reasons for the growth aren’t obvious.
Improved offerings such as more convenient stops near doctors’ offices are drawing more elderly riders, she said. Expanded bus service to new routes along Minot Avenue and Central Maine Community College in Auburn are expected to also spur ridership gains.
September ridership figures are expected to be available in mid-October, Bennett said.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.