The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has just released their 2009 fourth quarter ridership report for all public transit agencies across the country. Nationally, bus ridership is down about 5.15% from 2008. You might remember that for most transit agencies, ridership spiked to all time highs in 2008.
Likewise, in Washington State, most agencies saw bus ridership fall between 1%-15% between 2008 and 2009. Sound Transit and Spokane Transit actually posted modest gains in bus ridership over the same time period, a remarkable feat given a deepening recession. The following table shows bus ridership (as measured in passenger trips) between 2007 and 2009. (numbers reported in 000's)
While most agencies experienced falling demand in 2009, all but one were able to retain some of the gains from the record highs in 2008. As the economy stabilizes further, however, bus ridership will probably return to its average growth rates.
The number of passenger trips taken on buses is extremely low when compared to total passenger trips in the region. On average, there are about 14 million passenger trips per day in the Puget Sound region. According to the APTA, regional buses serve only about 420,000 passenger trips per weekday. This means buses only carry about 3 percent of all daily trips in the Puget Sound r! egion.