City's Youth Transit Ridership Numbers Surpass 30,000 Mark for School Year

YOUTH TRANSIT RIDERSHIP NUMBERS SURPASS

30,000 MARK FOR SCHOOL YEAR

Nearly 5,000 trips recorded in March

RAPID CITY, SD—Youth ridership on the City’s Rapid Transit System increased 10 percent in March over the same month a year ago. Rapid Transit System has also recorded over 30,000 youth passenger trips since the beginning of the 2022-23 school year.

            Nearly 5,000 youth passenger trips were recorded (4,991) last month, nearly 500 more trips than the 4,502 recorded in March 2022.  Last month’s ridership numbers were 27 percent higher than the number of youth riding public transit in Rapid City two years ago when 3,659 youth trips were recorded.

            Since this school year began, youth ridership for the seven-month period from September through March totals 30,502 youth trips, a major increase compared to the 26,600 trips recorded for the September through March period of the 2021-22 school year and the 21,312 trips recorded for the same period during the 2020-21 school year.

            The youth ridership numbers are part of the City’s ‘Youth Ride Free’ program, which was started in the summer of 2016.

            “It was another great month for youth ridership,” said Megan Gould-Stabile, Rapid Transit System manager. “We’ve been pleased with the ridership numbers especially on cold and stormy days. As the days begin to get warmer and during the summer months, public transit can serve as a great transportation option as well ”

            For more information about the ‘Youth Ride Free’ program, contact RTS at 605-394-6631.