Woodbridge, Va. –– More people in Prince William took the bus last year than they did in 2009.
Statistics released this week from the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission state ridership on local and commuter buses in Prince William and nearby neighbors Manassas and Manassas Park increased 1.6 percent in 2010 when compared to 2009.
Those who used PRTC’s Metro Direct bus service to the Franconia-Springfield and West Falls Church Metro stations also crammed the seats more often last year, as that service saw a 3 percent increase carrying a total of 2 million passengers for the year.
A local bus between Woodbridge and Manassas – PRTC’s Cross County Connector – lost riders last year, down 1.4 percent when compared to 2009, said PRTC spokeswoman Christine Rodrigo.
PRTC implemented a 10-percent fare increase last July on all of its local, commuter and Metro Direct buses.
“A fare increase that took effect in July 2010 does not appear to have had a significant effect on ridership. The fare increase added 50 cents to the OmniRide SmarTrip fare, 25 cents to the Metro Direct SmarTrip fare and 10 cents to the local bus fare,” stated Rodrigo in a press release.
During the same year it saw overall ridership gains, PRTC also welcomed Spotsylvania County has a new member jurisdiction in the transit commission. It joins Stafford, Prince William, Manassas, Manassas Park and Fredericksburg who all are already PRTC members.
