Rapid Transit System (RTS) recorded increases in both youth and overall ridership in January compared to December and a year ago. Overall ridership increased nine percent over December’s numbers and 11 percent over ridership numbers recorded in January 2023.
A total of 20,534 passenger trips were recorded on RTS in January, compared to 18,736 in December and 18,369 trips recorded in January 2023. There were more than 6,000 additional trips recorded on RTS in January compared to three years ago when 14,489 passenger trips were recorded in January 2021, a 29 percent increase.
For youth ridership, there was a 15 percent increase in January with 4,883 trips recorded as part of the ‘Youth Ride Free’ program. The January youth ridership number is an increase over the 4,174 trips recorded in December and represents an eight percent hike over the 4,474 youth trips recorded in January 2023.
There were more than 1,100 more youth passenger trips recorded last month when compared to the youth numbers two years ago in January 2022 (3,730).
For more information about the RTS program, visit www.rapidride.org or call 605-394-6631. In addition, parents and guardians can contact Rapid Transit Service to register for the youth ridership program or go online to rapidride.org and click on the ‘Youth Ride Free’ button.
