RTD breaks 100 million passenger trip mark
The
Regional Transportation District (RTD) announced that it carried more than 100 million passenger trips for the 12-month period ending in July 2008, which was up by 9.15 percent over the same period a year earlier. This is the first time RTD exceeded the 100 million passenger trip mark and is largest number of passenger trips over a 12 month period ever carried in the transit agency’s 30-year history.
The 100 million passenger trips on the full RTD system (bus, light rail, access-a-Ride and call-n-Ride services) from July 2007 to July 2008 compares with 92 million passenger trips from July 2006 to July 2007. This amounts to an increase of 9.15 percent. It is believed that the high price of gasoline, increasing traffic congestion and a growing interest in environmentally-friendly practices have contributed to RTD’s record ridership levels.
Light Rail daily ridership reached an average of nearly 64,000 daily passenger trips in July 2008, an increase of 9.54 percent over July 2007 passenger boardings per average weekday.
RTD’s systemwide service (light rail, bus, access-a-Ride and call-n-Ride) also saw record average weekday ridership in July 2008, with 336,459 daily passenger trips. This compared with 304,643 average weekday passenger trips in July 2007, reflecting an increase of 10.44 percent.