Commuters to downtown Ann Arbor are ditching the solo drive and boarding buses in record numbers, as the latest figures from getDowntown's go!pass bus pass program show. Ridership levels are up 20% on a year-over-year basis. Over 55,000 rides were taken in August, the highest ever recorded in the
go!pass program's 11-year history, according to Nancy Shore, director of getDowntown, Ann Arbor's alternative transportation program.
Shore attributes the significant increase in usage to high gas prices and the avoidance of parking costs, as well as the affordability and convenience of busing. "As more people use [busing], more employees will know somebody else that's using the bus and therefore that will make it a little more approachable to them."
Any company residing within the bounds of the Ann Arbor DDA district is eligible to purchase the passes, which cost $10 per employee and are good for a full year's unlimited use. The year runs from November 1 through October 31. The passes, the full cost of which are $71 apiece, are heavily subsidized through a grant from the DDA. "And that's because as much as [the DDA focuses] on parking, they're also very supportive of alternative transportation and green transportation," Shore says.
Last year, 521,768 rides were taken with the go!passes. This year that figure has already been exceeded; as of the end of August, with two months left in the current pass cycle, 528,804 boardings were tallied.
"From what we see, this is a huge economic development driver," Shore says, "because we've had employers that have told us, 'We stay downtown or we come downtown because we know go!passes are available.'"
Source: Nancy Shore, director of getDowntown
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar
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