The Nashville MTA and the Regional Transportation Authority of Middle Tennessee (RTA) jointly recorded a nearly four percent increase in ridership from Second Quarter 2013 as compared to Second Quarter 2014.
MTA ridership increased 3.8 percent, while the RTA increased 3.96 percent. MTA’s free downtown circulator, the Music City Circuit, increased nearly 42 percent.
“We are pleased to see a steady increase in ridership during the Second Quarter of this year, and equally thrilled to see that the largest increase in ridership was on the Music City Circuit,” MTA Director of Communications and Marketing Patricia Harris-Morehead said.
MTA has been working closely with the Nashville Convention and Visitor’s Corporation and transit supporters to promote the Music City Circuit to both visitors and residents. This free service connects with numerous bus routes, the transit hub Music City Central, and the Music City Star regional train.
As part of MTA’s biannual system changes, the MTA recently increased the frequency of the Blue and Green routes of the Music City Circuit. This is due in part to the enormous increase in ridership, as well as a survey conducted of riders that was performed this past April.
“We adjusted the routes so there will be more frequent service along 5th Avenue,” Harris-Morehead said.
Circuit buses traveling on the Blue and Green Circuits will operate every seven to eight minutes between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. and every 15 minutes after 6 p.m. along 5th Avenue to and from Demonbreun Street and the Bicentennial Mall area.
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) reported in September that more than 2.7 billion trips were taken on U.S. public transportation in the Second Quarter of 2014. That is a 1.1 percent increase over the same quarter last year.
