High gas prices may have more people riding the bus. At least two local transit agencies are reporting increases.
The Butler County Regional Transit Authority reports higher passenger numbers, especially on the longer routes.
Butler County RTA Spokesperson Shawn Cowan says ridership is up about 10%.
“That is primarily CincyLink. We have seen a small uptick in our regional routes that we offer. Our fixed routes are free, so obviously that can give a lot of relief to somebody’s wallet,” she says.
Cowan says increased marketing and a lower fare may have enticed more people onto the CincyLink shuttle.
Cowan says local fixed route services have increased slightly, too.
“Getting more phone calls, so that’s always an indicator — people asking questions about our services,” she says. “We have seen a little bit of an uptick in our phone calls on a daily basis, too.”
She says historically speaking, more people take the bus in bad weather, and when fuel costs rise. The price around Cincinnati for a gallon of regular unleaded gas at the end of April was on average, about $2.00 higher per gallon than at the beginning of March.
A spokesperson for Metro says local route ridership was up 4%. But Brandy Jones says in the last month, the number of people riding express commuter lines grew by 10%. She says passengers totals from March and
April were both slightly higher than the same period one year ago.
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