CARTA fixed-route buses see drop in ridership

The number of people riding CARTA buses in and out of Chattanooga has fallen considerably, records show.

"The last time we saw an increase in ridership was October 2008," said Tom Dugan, executive director of the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority.

From 2008 to 2009, records show a drop of more than 170,000 riders after years of steady increases. Downtown shuttle ridership fell by 30,000 riders from 2008 to 2009 after increases the two previous years, records show.

Mr. Dugan said he could attribute the drop to only one thing: the economy. When people get laid off from work, they don't ride the bus to work and will stop riding it to get groceries or go shopping, he said.

"This is the first time in my 30 years with transportation that I think the economy caused a drop in ridership," he said.

Transportation authorities across the Southeast and the nation have seen the same kind of drops, he said. The drop in Chattanooga is about 7 percent, he said, but cities such as Knoxville and Nashville have seen drops in the double digits.

Historically, gas prices affect ridership, Mr. Dugan said. When gas goes up, more people ride the bus because they find it more cost effective.

"When it goes down, they get off the bus," he said.

Gas prices went down from 2008 to 2009, but not enough to alone cause such a drastic reduction in ridership, he said.

Jill Veron, CARTA's director of planning, said the most affected bus route is the one that runs from downtown to East Lake and Alton Park. It showed a 22 percent drop in ridership from 2008 to 2009, she said.

An educated guess could be that custodial or lower-paying downtown jobs possibly cut back, she said, and jobs in the hospitality industry also may been reduced.

"If they don't have a job, they aren't going to ride the bus," she said.

Robert Doak, president and CEO of the Chattanooga Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, disputed the idea that losses in hospitality jobs reduced ridership. More hotel rooms were rented out in 2009 compared to the previous year, he said.

"I'm not aware of any layoffs in the hospitality industry," he said.

Councilwoman Pam Ladd, who owns Custom Custodial, said her business does a lot of cleaning of commercial properties and she was unaware of any layoffs in her industry. Most businesses have just shifted to lower-priced vendors, she said.

"We haven't had any reductions in our force," she said.

In February, fixed-route ridership showed the first upward spike in 16 months, records show. More than 142,000 riders rode CARTA buses compared to 139,000 in 2009, records show.

CARTA officials said they hope that's a sign that the economy is getting better.

"It's improving now," Mrs. Veron said.

FIXED-ROUTE RIDERSHIP

Ridership on fixed-route buses has dropped significantly from 2008 to 2009, records show.

Month 2008 2009

January 159,340 143,914

February 158,335 139,113

March 150,835 142,390

April 163,006 143,417

May 152,757 128,353

June 151,442 135,885

July 149,044 137,342

August 160,241 145,371

September 168,823 160,679

October 173,674 162,023

November 142,060 131,217

December 133,737 131,525

Source: CARTA

IN RECENT YEARS

Fixed-route buses saw a steady increase in passengers for several years and dropped last year, records show.

* 2005: 1.637 million riders

* 2006: 1.69 million riders

* 2007: 1.78 million riders

* 2008: 1.874 million riders

* 2009: 1.7 million riders

Source: CARTA

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