Prince George had one of the fastest-growing transit systems in the province last year.
During the 2010-11 year, ridership in Prince George grew by 16.8 per cent., according to information released by B.C. Transit in its annual report. Residents rode the bus a total of 1.94 million times from March 2010 to March 2011.
Only Fort St. John, Whistler and the Comox Valley transit systems saw a bigger increase in riders out of the 81 transit systems operated in partnership with B.C. Transit, according to the report.
Across the province, public transit use increased five per cent for the year on B.C. Transit systems. B.C. Transit's numbers do not include figures from the Greater Vancouver Transit Authority, which operates independently of the provincial agency.
Although transit use in Prince George is increasing rapidly, bus ridership continues to be lower than in similar sized communities like Kamloops, Kelowna and Naniamo. Those three cities saw ridership ranging from 2.6 million to 4.7 million rides in 2010-11.
The total cost of operating the city's bus service during the year was $6.73 million. Transit fares and advertising covered $1.85 million of that cost, $3.19 million was funding by B.C. Transit and $1.69 million was funded through city taxes.
City transit manager David Bradshaw was not available for comment as of press time.
