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Norman transit reports 25% ridership increase; staff outlines vehicle replacements and paratransit fixes
Summary
City staff told the Norman City Council that combined fixed-route and paratransit ridership rose 25% year‑over‑year to 504,898 passengers and described grant funding available to replace aging vehicles; staff also said paratransit software fixes appear to be reducing complaints.
Norman transit staff reported a year‑over‑year increase in ridership and described near‑term vehicle replacements and operational fixes at a city council workshop.
Taylor Johnson, Norman's transit and parking manager, told council members that the combined total for fixed‑route and paratransit passengers for the last fiscal year was 504,898, “which, is a 25% increase over the 2024 fiscal year total of 403,229.” He said the city is seeing continuing increases in both fixed route and paratransit use.
The memo Johnson presented also notes grant funding that staff plan to use to replace several vehicles inherited when the city took over operations. Johnson said the city has “some funding for 3 big buses” and for a paratransit vehicle that had reached its useful life despite being purchased after the city assumed operations. He added that large buses are typically replaced at about 12 years of service and smaller vehicles such as minivans have shorter replacement cycles—about four years for smaller vehicles—so staff are identifying funding now to issue purchase orders.
Johnson provided a brief construction update on the transit center bay parking lot at 320 East Comanche, saying contractors had torn out failing asphalt and were preparing to pour concrete once weather allowed.
Council members asked about paratransit performance after a software transition. Johnson said staff have met monthly with riders and Healthy Living staff since May and that “the initial corrective actions that we took based on input that we got are are working,” though he added there are still issues under review. He offered to have the mobility navigator assist a constituent who contacted a councilor via Facebook to complete a paratransit application.
Norman On Demand, the city's on‑demand service, reached nearly 45,000 annual trips in fiscal 2025, Johnson said, and July service began the new fiscal year with almost 2,800 trips; he cautioned that the service is approaching vehicle capacity and could show stagnant numbers until additional vehicles are added.
Why this matters: rising ridership changes resource needs for maintenance, scheduling and capital replacement. Councilmembers and staff discussed near‑term procurements, the condition of specific vehicles, and operational effects of the paratransit software rollout.
Councilors and staff said a study session on the Central Oklahoma Long Range Transit Plan is scheduled for Sept. 23; staff said that regional body ACOG will be the entity to adopt the final plan and the council may receive the report as a receipt of information at a future meeting.
