When it comes to ridership numbers, Clegg notes that the regional system is up about three to four percent year over year despite the discontinuation of one of the regional routes. “The changes made had exactly the impact that we hoped for. The people who have discovered them, like them.” One route now takes passengers out to the airport from the Northwest end of the city. “People tell me that they don’t have to park at the airport anymore and can just go by bus and get there. They love it,” Clegg describes. On the city’s best-in-class corridor, Valley Regional Transit has also added 15-minute frequencies in service due to increased passenger demand on higher-traveled routes such as this route directly passing through the downtown area. “Ultimately we would like to do a double loop so that you could go downtown every half hour,” Clegg offers. The route planning and service adjustments have paid off, Clegg determines, highlighting the success of the Transit Authority’s strategic plan over the last number of months. “I think we made the right choices with the changes that we made,” Clegg says. ELECTRIFICATION STEERING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION Valley Regional Transit began electrifying in Ada County in 2018 and has chargers ready for up to 72 charging stations. This was a deliberate move to be ahead of the curve with the goal of fully electrifying the fleet in line with the targets set. “We are waiting to get some of those [charging stations] commissioned and we are working on our second batch of buses. We started with 12 and now are adding another 11,” Clegg outlines. 141 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 12, ISSUE 04 VALLEY REGIONAL TRANSIT
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