Ozark Regional Transit Authortity’s Ridership Numbers have been compiled for 2014 and reveal record-setting passenger rides for Northwest Arkansas’ regional public transit system.
Joel Gardner, executive director for Ozark Regional Transit (ORT), credited the increased financial support from multiple municipalities as the basis for the record growth.
“Increased funding from smaller communities, such as Farmington, Greenland, Johnson, Lincoln, Prairie Grove and West Fork, as well as larger municipalities such as Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale and especially Fayetteville and Washington County, really allowed public transit to stretch out this past year,” Gardner said.
Gardner went on to say the additional funds were used strategically to improve bus route maps; software; training for use of the software; and a new, downloadable and free bus-tracking phone application called “RouteShout.”
Funds were also used for new bus shelters and five new fixed bus routes serving six new previously-under-served communities. All improvments have propagated the record ridership growth this previous year, but also, and most importantly, set the foundation for future growth in the area.
“Northwest Arkansas is one of the fastest growing regions in the country,” Gardner stated. “We’re trying to catch a moving target, so we had to address some basic transit-system models internally before reaching out. We’ve done that in my administration, in the time I’ve been here, and we’re poised for great things in Northwest Arkansas in the coming years! These numbers for 2014 are just the first evidence of what ORT can be, and will be. There is a lot of exciting news on the horizon.”
ORT reported fixed route, paratransit and demand response cumulative ridership as being 320,976 for 2014, with double-digit percentage increases in paratransit and demand response over 2013.
