EAU CLAIRE (WQOW) - 2024 was a banner year for Eau Claire public transit as more people ditched their cars and took the bus.
50,000 more people used public transit last year, with around 710,000 total passengers. In 2023, that number was 660,000.
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2024 was a banner year for Eau Claire public transit as more people ditched their cars and took the bus.
Community services manager Ty Fadness said new bus routes helped connect more people to their destinations. He said the largest group contributing to the ridership increase were university students.
"We increased the bus service at peak times so that we're not leaving as many university students behind because sometimes the busses are so full on the university routes that there are students that have to wait for the next one," he said.
Fadness is calling 2025 'The Year of Transit' for the Eau Claire community. The division will be celebrating 50 years of operation, and finally opening the long-awaited new transit center this summer.
They will also be launching a new program called 'Micro Transit Pilot', an on-demand ride share service.
"You can either call or use an app just like Lyft or Uber, kind of those on demand services except it's public transportation so it's going be a lot more economical," Fadness said.
The service will give people more direct rides compared to a bus route. The micro transit ride share program will only service people on the north side of the city during its first year. Fadness said if the program is successful, they will expand it to other areas of the city.
The service is scheduled to launch on July 1st.
https://www.wqow.com/eye-on-eau-claire/eau-claire-public-transit-division-declares-2025-year-of-transit-with-big-projects-on-the/article_6ad77cbc-e25b-11ef-9a1a-53563b48ba36.html
