A Record Year For Sta 8.15 Million Passengers Represent 4% Increase In Ridership Over Last Year

There were no bells and whistles, no prizes, no chorus of riders singing “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.”

But sometime Monday morning, some unknown passenger took the 8 millionth ride this year on a Spokane Transit Authority bus.

Even if no one else rides, it is a record year, STA officials say. They’re predicting final ridership will hit 8.15 million for the year, a 4 percent increase over 1996 and 33 percent increase since 1965, the first year for which figures are available.

The worst year in modern mass-transit history was 1968, when Spokane ridership dropped by half from the previous year. Bus drivers went on strike for six months that year.

The World’s Fair contributed to high ridership in 1974. Nearly 7.3 million people hopped a bus that year, a figure that wasn’t beat for eight years.

Ridership was 6.9 million in 1980, the year the Spokane Transit Authority, a regional agency, took over from Spokane City Lines. Ridership has increased 15 percent since then.

For those keeping score, cars still are growing in popularity more rapidly than buses. The state Department of Licensing reports that the number of passenger vehicles in Spokane County has grown 20 percent since 1980.

In recent years, gains in STA spending have outpaced gains in ridership. The agency’s budget has increased 15 percent since 1994, more than twice the rate of ridership.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: STA ridership