And the trends are looking remarkably MINUSCAR!
While I find this data pretty fricking cool and am worried about something;
Notice that public transportation ridership is down from 1999. I hope the new council and mayor do something about it. I know that Huether and the the council candidates talked about fixing public transportation in Sioux Falls, and I hope they follow thru.
Notice that public transportation ridership is down from 1999.
Whats troubling is the Argus and SAM paint a much brighter picture for public transportation.
Normally I wouldn’t care, but we subsidize the shit out of it and it just keeps declining? Somebody needs to do something.
I think we need to figure out which routes are not doing well, mix things around, and expand further out so that we can advertise the crap out of it for the environmental, money saving, cheaper alternative to use this as a commuter option. I also think we need to consider looking for more money (and maybe*) put a park and ride at I-29 & Tea (101st Street) or near Brandon, or just have more stops for “suburban” commuters.
Not only that but we need to make sure the bus stops are in areas with big employers to such as what the lady mentioned in the Argus article about the northwest side.
It should also run at least from 4 AM to 12 AM
Ok..question. IF I was to take the bus from 57th and Cliff (assuming there is bus transportation in that area). What time would I need to get on the bus in order to get to North Benson St for work at 8:00 a.m.? One reason I haven’t taken this type of transportation. I have no idea how many bus transfers I’d need to take and how long it would be. Would I need to BE ON the bus at 6:30 a.m. to arrive before 8? Or…get in my car at 7:30…take I229 and arrive at work at 7:50?
Bus transport is designed for people who don’t have cars, bicycles or walking shoes. And once people figure that out we can fix it in Sioux Falls. We somehow want to target ‘SAM’ at everyone. Sorry, I have no desire to ride the bus, did it when I went to HS in Seattle, and it is not a ‘fun’ experience, and as Daizi points out, it is NOT timely.
‘SAM’ is just not set up right. The routes need to be changed, times need to be expanded, and more connectors need to be in place.
Honestly, a lot of ‘my’ friends think taking our city Bus is ‘ghetto’ but when you say taking public transportation in Minneapolis like Hiawatha and such, people use that and the bus system there A LOT. Granted they are much bigger, but as we grow we can learn a lot from their examples.