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City reports higher visitor counts and transit ridership; transportation staff note permit and parking changes
Summary
Destination Salem reported record 2024 visitation (1,040,600 total visitors, 87,000 on Oct. 31); MBTA and ferry ridership rose substantially. Transportation staff noted transition to an online resident-permit system, 745 visitor permits issued, and fewer walk-ins to permit offices.
Destination Salem’s executive director told the committee that Salem recorded 1,040,600 visitors in 2024 and a Halloween Day visitation high of more than 87,000, numbers the city uses to plan transit and parking operations.
Ashley Judge, executive director of Destination Salem, said the organization’s October marketing and information program produced a record number of page views, app users and website traffic to guide visitors to transit, parking and restrooms.
Christina Hodge, assistant transportation director, said the department issued 745 visitor permits for October 2024; the transcript did not specify the total number of resident permits issued under the new online system. Hodge said the department saw fewer permit-office walk-ins (618 in 2024 versus 1,278 in 2023), an outcome she attributed to the new license-plate–based online permit system and related customer calls.
Hodge reported a total of 21,425 shuttle users for days the satellite-lot shuttle ran and said MBTA data show October weekend commuter-rail boardings to/from Salem totaled about 173,804, roughly a 58% increase over 2023; ferry ridership was about 84,000 passengers. Staff said shuttle days fell from 12 in 2023 to 10 in 2024, which contributed to a reported 20.8% decrease in shuttle spending year over year.
Councilors asked whether charging for shuttle service could affect ridership; staff said discussions are ongoing and that small fees must be balanced against the risk of deterring riders.
Transportation staff and police said parking-enforcement patterns changed after the city implemented license-plate technology; resident-sticker ticket counts fell while nonresident metered-ticket counts remained high. Staff noted five towing incidents in 2024 where license-plate information was entered incorrectly; all were resolved.
