It's getting to be bus or bust for Washtenaw County residents and workers.
Proof? The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) recently announced hefty increases in ridership statistics for its public bus service, The Ride, over the April through June period of 2011 as compared to the same period last year.
Weekday ridership on fixed routes grew an average of 6.7 percent. Some routes that fared particularly well are: no. 17 Amtrak-Depot St. (a 50 percent increase); no. 2 Plymouth (up 14 percent); no. 4 Washtenaw (up 11 percent), and no. 8 Pauline (up 10 percent).
The no. 2 Plymouth and no. 4 Washtenaw routes added over 20,000 more boardings apiece this year. In addition, usage of the A2 Express service to Canton and Chelsea jumped by 34 percent over last year.
The Night Ride service which operates from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. weekdays and 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on weekends also saw growth of 25 percent, or 1,022 boardings. This service supplements the regular fixed route schedule which does not run during those times.
In April, its boundaries were expanded outside of the Ann Arbor city limits to encompass the area east to Golfside Road, from Clark Road in the north to Ellsworth in the south. And look for an expansion of the Night Ride to serve more of Ypsilanti starting in the late fall.
"Commuters are increasingly looking to save on gas money and the hassle of driving to and from their jobs," says
The Ride CEO Michael Ford in a statement. "We are committed to making TheRide's services as convenient as possible for all commuters so that this trend and the associated savings can continue."
Source: Ann Arbor Transportation AuthorityWriter: Tanya Muzumdar
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