The head of the Central Ohio Transit Authority says the higher price of gasoline has led to increased ridership on COTA buses. Bill Lhota says the increase began late last summer when the price for a gallon of gas rose to around 3 dollars. WOSU's Sam Hendren reports.
Bill Lhota says the ridership increase which began in September, 2005 was spurred by record-high gasoline prices. But even after prices fell, he says the increase in riders remained.
"For the month of September 2005 over 2004, our ridership was up 6.6%. We initially thought it might go back down as gasoline prices went down, but fortunately, it was up 5.1% for October, 5.2% for November, and 6.3% for December," says Lhota.
In spite of a fare increase and an 11 percent service reduction at the start of 2006, Lhota says ridership still shows a modest improvement. It's not enough though, Lhota says, to make a significant difference in the company's bottom line.
"That's a positive, but because we only get 17 cents on every dollar from the fare box, it will not solve COTA's financial problems long term, but we certainly appreciate it and it does contribute to our bottom line," says Lhota.
Lhota says people may have turned to bus transportation to escape the surge in gas prices, but COTA's service, he says, has kept those riders. Sam Hendren, WOSU News.