Three months after launching the new EmX bus line in west Eugene, Lane Transit District reports initial numbers for ridership and route connections are 鈥渞ight on track.鈥�
LTD says the numbers are preliminary but promising: a 14% increase in bus ridership in the west Eugene service area. In a year-to year comparison, EmX bus boardings increased by more than 43,000 riders in 2017.
With transit agencies across the country seeing a steady decline in ridership, LTD spokeswoman Therese Lang says they鈥檝e seen an overall 1% increase.
鈥淥ne percent doesn鈥檛 seem like very much but we have 10 million boardings per year,鈥� says Lang. 鈥淎nd so 1% increase is 100,000 more boardings which is a pretty big number for a community like ours.鈥�
The west Eugene EmX project was controversial in early its stages. Now after a few months of operation, Lang says some former detractors have praised the new infrastructure and the access it brings to their businesses.
Copyright 2017