Tarpon Springs route credited for boost in bus ridership

Bus ridership in Pasco County is up dramatically and much of the credit goes to the addition of a route between State Road 52 and Tarpon Springs, a consultant said.

The news was part of a transit plan approved Thursday by the Metropolitan Planning Organization at the Historic County Courthouse in Dade City.

The plan detailed the climb in ridership the past few years by people younger than 60 following the addition of a route between State Road 52 and Tarpon Springs, the streamlining of routes feeding it, and five-day-a-week service, said Bill Ball, a Tampa consultant advising the MPO.

"Clearly we have come a long way," Ball said.

Ridership doubled from 136,140 in 2000 to 271,830 in 2001. In 1999, it was 58,180.

Most of the recent increase came from working people on the west side of the county using the system to get to their jobs. Ball credits the 2-year-old Tarpon Springs route.

In 1999, 63 percent of those using the bus system were over age 60, the plan shows. But as of 2002, only 18 percent were in that age group. Instead, almost 68 percent of riders were ages 25-60.

"While the elderly continue to use the system, we're also seeing people using it to get to work," said Ball, who works for Tindale-Oliver and Associates Inc. in Tampa.

Some of the improvements the past three years include:

Extended hours of service. Formerly, buses ran from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Now the hours are 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on the Tarpon Springs route and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. elsewhere in Pasco. Also, the routes are covered countywide five days a week instead of two days.

Realignment of some routes to more quickly feed into the Tarpon Springs route.

The MPO also approved the plan's recommended improvements for the next three years: a new Tarpon Springs route, this one either on Alt. U.S. 19 or McMullen-Booth Road; an express bus on U.S. 19 to Tarpon Springs; and a reduced wait time on U.S. 19 from an hour down to 30 minutes.

The study, which must be updated every three years under state law, shows that taxpayers continue to foot the bulk of the bill for the system. Each time a person takes a ride it costs the system $4.69.

The plan recommends that the cost of a bus trip in Pasco County stay at 50 cents for the next three years, but monthly passes rise from $7.50 to $15.

The hike would be gradual, going up $2.50 a year for the next three years.

The County Commission and the state must sign off on the deal.

Fares pay for only 4 percent of the cost to run the system, the total cost of which will climb from $5-million next year to $6.8-million in 2007.

The Pasco County Commission's share is roughly 18 percent through 2007. The rest of the contributions come from state and federal funding.

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