PORT ANGELES – The bus business is booming in Clallam County, with Clallam Transit System riders taking thousands of more rides than a year ago.
The network carried a record number of passengers in October, with fixed-route ridership climbing to 82,051.
That was 2,689 more boardings – 3.3 percent – than the previous record total of 79,362 that had been set in May.
Year-to-date ridership stands at 751,381 boardings, up 4.5 percent from 719,353 as of October 2006.
Terry Weed, Clallam Transit’s general manager, said he can’t cite specific reasons for the increase.
“However, we can speculate that there are a variety of conditions – fuel pricing, the overall economy, familiarity with our system.”
Sometimes people are obliged to ride buses when their personal cars need repair or they sustain injuries or illnesses that prevent them from driving, he said.
They discover they like riding Clallam Transit and continue to commute by bus.
