Shannon Starr
Staff Writer
Temecula Valley News
May 18, 2009
Even while gas prices continue to remain nearly half of what they were one year ago, the number of people taking pubic transport remains up, according to data released by the Riverside Transit Agency (RTA).
“The trend we are seeing is that overall ridership continues to climb even as gas prices remain lower,” said RTA spokesman Bradley Weaver.
Last year the agency saw an historic number of people boarding RTA buses – eight million boardings, to be precise.
“Gas prices went up and some people tried public transportation for the first time,” Weaver said.
But they continued riding the bus even as gas prices receded, he said.
More and more people are leaving their vehicles at designated Park and Ride areas or riding bicycles to bus stops and continuing their commutes, letting RTA do the driving for them.
Recently RTA board members received a report showing 733,685 boardings in March, a 13.5-percent increase compared to March of last year.
In addition, the number of riders on the CommuterLink express routes was up 12 percent from a year ago and Dial-A-Ride boardings climbed 23 percent.
In the southwest portion of Riverside County two new CommuterLink routes will be introduced in June linking Hemet/San Jacinto to Riverside and Escondido.
Route 212 will begin service on June 29 with stops in San Jacinto, Hemet, Perris, UC Riverside, Marketplace Metrolink Station and the Riverside Downtown Terminal.
Route 217 will offer service between San Jacinto, Hemet, Temecula’s Promenade Mall, Escondido Transit Center and Escondido City Hall.
The routes were funded with grant money from the federal Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) and New Freedom Program, along with Measure A funds provided by the Riverside County Transportation Commission, according to a press release.
General fares will be $3, day passes $7 and monthly passes $75.
For Temecula residents, a new service will be starting. The ride should be ringing bells for some.
A free trolley service for Temecula will begin on June 29.
The Temecula Trolley will have two routes serving the Harveston development, Promenade Mall and Old Town.
Riders can take the Green Line on a route from the Harveston area to the mall. The Red Line will take them around the mall and Old Town Temecula.
“There is a need for [the trolley] in the community,” said Weaver. “People will use it to get to the mall, schools, Old Town, and during lunch they can jump on the trolley to get lunch. Since the service is free there should be a big incentive for people to try it.”
The trolley route came to fruition through an agreement between homebuilder Lennar Homes and the City of Temecula.
“Funding for the trolley was financed through a conditional use agreement,” Weaver said. “The city required them to set aside money when they built.”
The RTA is in the process of designing the final routing for the trolley, he added.
With summer approaching, Weaver also wanted to remind residents of the Beach Bus, which runs June 15 to Sept. 6. This is the third year RTA has offered the service.
Riders can travel from southwest Riverside County to Oceanside with the comforts of WI-FI and satellite TV during the hour-long trip.
For those who would like to explore public transportation options, Weaver said the agency makes learning routes and schedules easy.
By logging on to www.riversidetransit.com or calling the RTA Customer Information
Center at (800) 800-7821 or (951) 565-5002, riders just need to know where they are going and when they need to be at their destination.
Park and Ride locations include the Promenade Mall.
Weaver tries to take the bus on a regular basis from Temecula to Riverside. “I’ll experience the environment and talk to the passengers,” he said of his own commute. |
