Rapid Transit System sees highest April ridership numbers in five years

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - The Rapid Transit System recorded more than 21,800 passenger trips in April continuing its upward trend over the past five years.

April’s ridership numbers are a 10% increase over March and a 19% increase compared to last April’s numbers. A big part of this increase is the ‘Youth Ride Free’ program. 5,657 youth passengers represented a 31% increase from last year. Rapid City Communication Coordinator Darrell Shoemaker says youth ridership has become more steady since the pandemic, creating healthier numbers.

“When you look at this school year this eight months we’ve had over forty thousand youth passenger trips recorded. Last year the 22-23 school year, at this point in time we were running about thirty-three and a half. So very healthy increases system-wide,” Shoemaker said.

This increase is a welcome sight and Shoemaker says the city is hoping to continue to see those numbers increase during the summer months despite kids not being in school.

“It’s a great option for the kids to get to the pools, to get to the movies, get to the parks, get to programs that might be offering some free meals or free programs camps and so forth,” Shoemaker said.

Parents interested in the Youth Ride Free program can register on their website.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Copyright 2024 KEVN. All rights reserved.