Last night, the city got its semi-annual update from People’s Transit.
Executive Director Gayle Kludt says from July 1st, 2017 to June 30th, 2018, People’s Transit traveled over 241,625 miles and transported 76,000 passengers. The majority of the riders are school-age children, the elderly and disabled people.
Kludt says expenses, such as fuel and operational costs, continue to rise. Each rider costs People’s Transit $11.08 while the charge for riding can range between $1.50 to $3.50.
With that in mind, she has been at looking for ways to operate more efficiently, including reducing non-revenue miles. She says one way to do that is by limiting the amount of time empty buses are on the road.
Kludt says she is also looking at changing the scheduling of People’s Transits school routes.
This would involve integrating school children with other riders.
Kludt says she is also working to improve preventative maintenance on People’s Transits fleet. She says another opportunity for savings has been the elimination of vacation days and sick leave for part-time drivers.