Last month, StarMetro officially launched the Northern extension of the 80X Express route to Bradfordville, which marked the first route to ever break the barrier of the city limits.

Since the launch of the Northern extension, StarMetro’s ridership numbers have soared.

Prior to the Northern extension, the 80X route originally traveled from the SouthWood Town Center to downtown, which connected three major employment centers – the Capitol Circle Office Complex (CCOC), the Koger Center and offices located in downtown.

“During listening sessions held at the CCOC, I discovered that most employees would comment, ‘I live in Killearn and I would use the service, but there is no service out there,’” said Samuel Scheib, StarMetro planner. “So, I constructed a plan to extend the 80X service to the Killearn area to accommodate these employees.”

When the pilot program for the 80X Northern extension began in December 2007, StarMetro planners cautiously watched ridership numbers, which nearly doubled due to the extension. Throughout the pilot phase, planners still continued to see a steady climb in ridership numbers. During March 2008, one month prior to the official launch of the Northern extension, StarMetro’s ridership numbers for the entire 80X Express route averaged 1,267 riders per five-day week. The following month, which saw the official lift off of the extension, the route averaged 1,530 riders per week — an increase of 263 riders per week.

“Overall, I’m very pleased to know about the 80X Express bus, have had a great experience so far and will continue to use the bus route,” said Michael Neal, new 80X rider.

In order to accommodate the rising number of new 80X riders, StarMetro will now run a 30-passenger shuttle on the 6:40 a.m. route, instead of the previous 23-passenger shuttle.

“I really support mass transit and after riding a subway in Tokyo – StarMetro is a luxury,” said Loretta Bowman, existing 80X rider. “I’m telling everyone about it and everyone I’ve talked to is very supportive.”

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