Transit Myth Busted: “No One Rides the Bus”
If you’ve ever seen an RTC bus with only a few passengers or none at all, you may have wondered:
Does anyone actually ride the bus?
The answer is a resounding yes.
While a bus may appear empty at one moment, there’s often a simple explanation. Here’s three common reasons why you might see an empty bus:
- A scheduled layover, which is a short break, between trips
- The beginning or ending of a route
- A driver shift change
Like any transportation system, buses have operational needs that keep service running reliably throughout the day. And while you may spot a bus with only a few people, just a few minutes later it could be full as it reaches schools, jobs, medical centers, downtown, and the resort corridor.
In fact, transit is in high demand and RTC provides nearly 58 million passenger trips per year, making it one of the busiest bus-only transit systems in the nation. Transit is reliable, affordable, convenient, and provides a connection to the community and the people within it. Every one of those trips represents a person connecting to something important such as a job, school, a medical appointment, the grocery store, or loved ones.
So the next time you spot a bus with only a handful of passengers, or none at all, remember that you’re seeing just one moment in a much bigger journey. That same bus may have been full an hour earlier or will be full on its next trip. More importantly, it’s part of a system that keeps our community connected, supports our economy and helps millions of people reach the places that matter most.
The myth that “no one rides the bus?” Consider it officially bus-ted.