Mich.’s Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority announced a 5% increase in ridership for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. The increase demonstrates the continued demand for public transit services in the greater Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti area.

Total ridership for the 2016-2017 fiscal year was 6,879,996, compared to the previous year’s ridership of 6,572,012. This encompasses riders on all services including fixed-routes, services for seniors and people with disabilities, Express Routes, and airport services. Fixed-route service had the biggest gain in ridership at 5% with Demand-Response services for seniors and people with disabilities growing by 3%.

The increase is significant, since the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) recently reported ridership decreases of 4.16% through the third quarter of 2017 for transit systems of comparable size to TheRide.

In a recent onboard survey conducted in the Fall of 2017, 45% of TheRide’s passengers indicated they are using services more than one year ago. Other key facts from the survey include:

• Twenty-nine percent of riders are using services after 8 p.m. more than last year.

• Thirty-one percent of riders are using services more on weekends than last year.

• Twenty-six percent of riders are new to the service.

• Forty-seven percent have been riding for one to five years.

• Twenty-seven percent have been riding for six or more years.

A summary of the survey findings, along with more fiscal year 2017 statistics are included in the Citizen Report, which is available here.

“Public transit is very important to this community. TheRide is dedicated to meeting that need by making it as easy as possible for our riders to get where they need to go,” said Matt Carpenter, CEO, TheRide. “We are thrilled to see these latest numbers which tell us the community is responding to and using our services. There is clearly a need for continued support and investment.”