(via mta.info)
Ridership on the MTA Bus Company, which operates 46 outerborough local routes and 35 express buses into Manhattan, surged by 11 percent in 2007, the MTA said today.
Its 1,336 buses carried an average of 367,900 riders per weekday, an
increase of 9.7% compared with 2006. Ridership increases were even
greater on weekends, with a 2007 average of 196,300 riders (a 15.1%
increase) on Saturdays and 138,900 (a 13.0% increase) on Sundays.
From a press release:
The MTA attributed the increasing ridership to five MTA Bus
initiatives:
*Improved reliability, including revised schedules to more
accurately reflect traffic conditions and improved bus operator
availability, and extensive bus maintenance overhauls to improve fleet
availability and reliability.
*Large-scale maintenance efforts undertaken to repair and restore
air conditioning and heat on older buses and enhancing cleanliness
throughout the fleet.
*The replacement of fleets of old buses with 475 new high
capacity, high customer amenity express buses and 284 new
environmentally friendly hybrid-electric local buses.
*Achievement of 100 percent wheelchair accessibility for the MTA
Bus fleet.
*Improved customer information, with updated timetables now
available on the MTA’s website at mta.info/busco/schedules.
*Improved scheduling as MTA Bus increased the frequency and hours
of service on routes where ridership levels indicate the need.
*The revision and extension of travel paths on selected routes to
serve new markets, improve connections, and provide more direct, faster
service.
The MTA Bus Company was created in September 2004 to consolidate and
operate routes formerly run by the seven private companies, began
assuming operations in January 2005 and took complete control on
February 20, 2006.
