Local bus services are seeing 30 consecutive months of ridership growth.
This is according to data from the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) and Keolis North America (Keolis).
For the 30th consecutive month, data has shown increases in ridership for public transit, including a 15% increase in average daily ridership from the same period last year.
James Gee, the Director of Public Transit for RTC Washoe says students have a lot to do with this increase.
"For students—the population at UNR and TMCC—they’re natural customers because they want to get to and from school, but they may want to save money in the process because they’re spending money on education,” said Gee.
Ridership for RTC's TMCC and UNR education passes are experiencing healthy increases in the last month, including a 39% increase for UNR from last January and a 61% increase for TMCC for the same period.
Gee also mentions the increase in ridership is due to few other things as well, saying, "We’ve really focused on increasing marketing to seniors and Spanish-speaking populations and students, and those three segments have been a big part of our ridership increases. We’re also making the Virginia Line much more attractive to use, and focused on technology and making it easier for customers to get access to our services.”
Don Swain, the General Manager for Keolis Transit, says they want to keep their customers happy so they can continue to see an increase in passengers.
Swain says, "We want to make sure the customers are treated like guests so that they get a good ride, and they get good customer service from the operator when they’re on the bus."
For the last 12 months, there were nearly 5.7 million rides, a 10.6% increase from the 2023 calendar year.
Swain told us more about the experience customers can expect from their buses, adding, "It’s a very comfortable vehicle. RTC does a great job of getting the equipment put together and built, so it really serves clients that ride the bus very well. It really is a wonderful thing to see - clean buses, the seats are comfortable."
Swain also talked to us about how he's happy to be a part of the organization, saying, "It’s a great feeling to be a part of the effort in Washoe County to provide great service. RTC is wonderful to work with, Keolis is a great employer; so it’s something I look forward to everyday when I come to work."
