Owensboro Transit System (OTS) will participate in the national Get on Board for the Public Transit day on April 25, allowing the public to ride for free all day long during normal business hours.
Get on Board is a national awareness and advocacy day of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). The day is intended to generate awareness of and increase support for public transportation among riders and non-riders, elected officials and stakeholders, according to their website. OTS is one system of hundred committed to participate on April 25.
According to APTA, Americans took 10.1 billion trips on public transportation in 2017. APTA also found that 45 percent of Americans have no access to public transportation.
OTS Manager Pamela Canary said OTS averages about 6,400 fixed route rides per week.
“Public transportation provides for a higher quality of life,” Canary said, citing data of the local impact OTS for Owensboro. “More than 70 percent of our ridership does not own a car.”
Twenty-five percent of OTS riders are under 19 years old, 40 percent are between the ages of 36 and 64, 20 percent between 20 and 30 and 15 percent are 64 and older.
Canary said 35 percent of riders use OTS Monday through Friday and that percentage only drops to 32 percent Monday through Saturday, with 24 percent of riders using OTS two to three times each week.
