A little more than a month after setting a new record for riders in a single day, Regional Transit System has broken its record for riders in a month and riders in a single year.
The news was followed by the announcement that the company is receiving a $10.6 million grant from the Department of Transportation to build a new maintenance facility and expand the fleet by 25 buses.
“It really got everybody energized over here in the office,” said Chip Skinner, spokesman for RTS.
During the month of the September, about 1.15 million people rode RTS buses, breaking the previous record set in 2009 by 31,042 riders.
September is RTS’ busiest month because of the large influx of new students on campus, according to Skinner.
“It’s a great benefit to have our partnership with the University of Florida,” he said. “We couldn’t have broken that record without the faculty, students and staff of UF choosing public transit and choosing the green option for their transportation needs.”
About 9.37 million people rode the bus from Oct. 1, 2009 to the same date this year, breaking the previous year’s record by about 300,000 riders.
Construction on the new facility could begin as soon as 2011, and Skinner estimated the facility would be completed by 2013.
“With the expansion of fleets and the facility, hopefully we will be able to expand on the number of routes and the service that we provide to the public,” he said.
