Popularity of Route 20 Prompts County Connection to Add Service
On Sunday, December 23, 2012, County Connection will begin operation of additional bus service on one of the transit agency’s most popular bus routes that connects Diablo Valley College to Bart Concord. Like many transit providers in the nation, County Connection is experiencing an increase in ridership.
“Route 20 has historically been one of County Connection’s most productive bus routes in terms of the number of passengers served each hour,” said Rick Ramacier, County Connection General Manager. “As the economy slowly improves and more people return to work and school, we’ve seen signs of strain on this particular route because of the strong commute and student ridership base.”
To address the strain on Route 20, County Connection’s current practice is to monitor Concord BART station and deploy additional bus service whenever possible to alleviate overcrowding. The upcoming new service is a direct result of a request from the community. Recently several Route 20 riders attended meetings of County Connection’s Operations and Scheduling Committee and the Advisory Committee to ask for a permanent additional service to be considered. Meetings are open to the public and transit stakeholders are encouraged to attend.
“The Route 20 riders made a strong case and we agree with them,” said Jack Weir, Board representative from Pleasant Hill. “Ridership reports presented at the meeting cited the system-wide average of 17 riders each hour of service, while Route 20 in September carried over 29 passengers each hour. The morning commute is now swelling to upwards of 42 passengers.”
The new regular service calls for an additional trip to leave Concord BART at 8:30 AM. This will allow consistent departures from Concord BART every 15 minutes between 6:45 AM and 9:15 AM.
According to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) there is a growing public demand for public transportation services across the nation and all major modes of public transportation are seeing a rise in ridership.
“In some areas of the country, local and regional economies are rebounding, and not surprisingly, public transit ridership is up in regions where jobs are increasing and employment is up,” said APTA President and CEO Michael Melaniphy, specifically mentioning San Francisco (and the Bay area) as an improving local economy.
A one-way trip between Diablo Valley College and Bart Concord costs just $2.00, seniors (65+/disabled/medicare) pay only $1.00. Also riders can purchase 20 rides and BART transfers for the price of 10 with the Commuter Card, costing $40.00. For complete fare listings, visit https://cccta.wpengine.com/fares/
County Connection operates a fleet of 29 ft., 35 ft., and 40 ft. fully accessible fixed-route buses, and a fleet of 63 paratransit vehicles. Printed schedules are available at BART stations, City Offices, and public libraries throughout central Contra Costa. For immediate schedule information, please visit the agency’s website www.cccta.org or call Customer Service (925) 676-7500.
View the complete APTA ridership report by visiting: http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Documents/Ridership/2012-q2-ridership-APTA.pdf