Valley Metro counted record highs in bus ridership this year as more Valley residents use public transportation.
For the first time in history, annual bus ridership reached nearly 60 million in total passenger boardings for the 2008 fiscal year, more than a 3 percent increase from the 58 million in 2007. Valley Metro has also seen an increase of bikes on buses, which climbed 12 percent in the past year.
“More people are using alternative forms of transportation now than at any other time in the past 15 years,” said David Boggs, executive director of Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority.
According to the latest Valley Metro Survey, convenience and saving gas are the primary motivations for residents to use public transportation and avoid driving alone. The percentage of respondents who say they use alternative options primarily to save money on gas doubled from 16 percent in 2007 to 32 percent in 2008.
The survey also measured the willingness of those who do not use public transportation to try it. In the past, many residents preferred driving personal vehicles for convenience. The survey showed that saving money on gas is influencing residents to leave their car keys at home and reconsider public transportation alternatives.
In Tempe, bus systems have seen a passenger increase of almost 11 percent, carrying nearly 850,000 more passengers than in 2007. Likely contributing to this growth is the increase in student enrollment at Arizona State University, where the main campus is located in Tempe.
Valley Metro charts showed that bus ridership decreased during months when students are on breaks from school. This year, ASU hit records numbers for incoming freshman, as well as overall student enrollment.
“As with any growing community, the need for public services will rise. ASU is no different,” said Susan Tierney, Valley Metro public information officer.
To accommodate the rise in commuters, Valley Metro has added new express bus routes, extended current bus routes and added city circulator services in Phoenix and Tempe. In addition, ASU Parking and Transit is in the process of evaluating its transportation services.
Valley Metro expects to see an ever greater increase in ridership in December, with the opening of the new light rail system. In the first year of operations, light rail ridership alone is estimated at 26,000 daily boardings, said Hillary Foose, public information officer for Metro Light Rail.
“According to an ASU study, it was calculated that nearly 20-percent of our passengers will be ASU students,” Foose said.
With the light rail in action, Valley Metro projects a greater demand for bus service as people make connections between services to reach destinations in the Valley.
Along with the light rail, Valley Metro will provide park-and-rides, where passengers can drive their vehicles to designated parking areas, and then board transit vehicles from these locations. By providing this service, Tierney said Valley Metro anticipates a greater need for carpooling and vanpooling, arrangements in which two or more people share the use and cost of privately owned vehicles.
The light rail is scheduled to open Dec. 29.
Reach the reporter at jarobiso@asu.edu.
