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Sandy reports rising ridership and holds transit training for Cedar Ridge special‑education students
Summary
Transit staff reported January ridership gains on multiple routes and described a community outreach transit‑training session for Cedar Ridge special‑education students that included tokens, route maps and a simulated boarding at city hall.
Sandy transit staff reported ridership increases across most routes in January and described a recent community outreach event in which staff and board members provided transit training to special‑education students at Cedar Ridge.
Why it matters: recovering ridership and targeted outreach can improve access to jobs, school and services for disabled residents and others who rely on fixed‑route service.
Staff said January ridership rose compared with the pandemic period, though overall totals have not fully returned to pre‑COVID levels. The board heard that the Pell Center route has grown sharply since a service change roughly one year ago; staff characterized the route’s increase as roughly 400% over the earlier baseline. Staff also said a recent interline with the Village Shuttle (started in October) produced more than a 100% ridership increase on that corridor after service and fare changes were reintroduced.
As part of outreach and rider education, staff and board members took Cedar Ridge special‑education students on a Shopper Shuttle ride and a short stop at city hall so students could learn that the system is city‑operated. The outreach included tokens, route brochures, instruction on using the transit app to track buses, demonstrations on how to ask drivers for stops and a photo at the bus stop in front of Cedar Ridge so students would know where to catch the shuttle after school. Staff said the group had refreshments at city hall and that a city manager introduced himself to the students during the visit.
Staff said they will audit tablet ridership records to confirm electronic counts after noticing a surge in some route numbers; the audit will double‑check that increases are not the result of electronic‑recording errors. Staff also described plans to monitor the Vista Loop service as new nearby housing is built and to continue interlining where it boosts coverage without adding a separate route.
Ending: transit staff said they will proceed with audits of tablet data, continue community outreach, and watch route performance as new housing and service connections come online.
