Transit Authority ridership still up after April promotion
The Butler Transit Authority's Commuter service, which operates between Butler and Pittsburgh, had nearly 1,500 trips in May, which is 560 more than last May but also about on par with April’s ridership numbers.
The authority offered free trips on the Commuter throughout April in order to build ridership for the service after it had fallen dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Trips on that route shot up in April, and transit authority administrators said it looks like many riders kept riding through May.
“Right now, I’m looking at it as a success that we attracted 400-some more trips through that promotion, and it held through the first month after,” said John Paul, executive director of the Butler Transit Authority. “We’ll see if that continues and if we can continue to build.”
The Butler Transit Authority's Commuter service, which operates between Butler and Pittsburgh, had nearly 1,500 trips in May, which is 560 more than last May but also about on par with April’s ridership numbers.
The authority offered free trips on the Commuter throughout April in order to build ridership for the service after it had fallen dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Trips on that route shot up in April, and transit authority administrators said it looks like many riders kept riding through May.
“Right now, I’m looking at it as a success that we attracted 400-some more trips through that promotion, and it held through the first month after,” said John Paul, executive director of the Butler Transit Authority. “We’ll see if that continues and if we can continue to build.”
Paul also said at a meeting of the transit authority board of directors Tuesday, June 13, that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has approved a bus wash replacement, a new floor lift and replacement lift at the authority’s headquarters.
Paul said the project could cost about $2 million, but it will take some time before the project is even proposed.
“This is more maintaining and replacing equipment,” Paul said. “This isn’t really an addition or anything, other than the additional lift.”
