Harbor Transit is pleased to announce that two ridership records have recently fallen helping make 2013 the busiest twelve months in the history of Tri-Cities public transportation. On Friday, November 22 Harbor Transit carried 898 passengers, a one day record. This number helped to produce ridership for the month that was 1,458 more rides than the same period of a year ago. For the twelve months ending December 31, Transit realized a 6.4% increase in ridership over the previous year resulting in a record total of 200,437 passengers for the year. Ridership was up in all major categories with the most significant increases coming from those riders 50 years of and over. Students from the various school locations throughout the service area continued to show increased volumes year over year.
“No doubt the expansion of our service area into Grand Haven Charter Township had an impact with respect to this increase,” stated Tom Manderscheid, Director of Transportation. “But we were pleased to see the other long standing areas we serve also experienced solid growth in ridership.” “In addition, the several new buses and new mini-vans have made for better service and quicker pickup times which have also helped to manage rider demand for service.” For the third consecutive year Transit has seen its ridership increase. During the last three years Harbor Transit has carried a total of 74,997 more passengers than the 125,440 transported in 2010 an overall increase of 59.8%.
Pictured: Mr. Dennis Carter was recently recognized for being the 200,000 passenger to ride Harbor Transit during 2013. He is shown here with the one month bus pass he was awarded for this distinction.