Ridership numbers concern transportation supporters

Within the next month, large signs with bus schedules and routes will be placed in community centers and area businesses in an effort to increase the visibility of public transportation services available to Green Valley-Sahuarita residents.

The announcement was made Tuesday at a community meeting sponsored by the Regional Transportation Authority and the Green Valley Community Coordinating Council.

Residents and officials expressed concern about the Green Valley-Sahuarita circulator and regional connector routes of the Pima County Rural Transit program, which are suffering from a lack of riders.

“If there’s not increased ridership, it needs to be pulled,” transit consultant Amy Ostrander said.

An average of 10 people per day ride the Green Valley loop of the local route, she said, while six to eight ride the Sahuarita route. Numbers are also low for the Tucson route, which takes riders to the Laos Transit Center on Irvington Road and also stops at Raytheon Systems Co.

Dick Roberts, who served on the RTA’s Citizens Advisory Committee, which in 2006 helped draft the 20-year, $2.1 billion bond plan that has funded the transit program, says training sessions should be offered to familiarize the public with how the bus schedules work.

“One concern people have is, if you ride a bus into Tucson, how do you make sure you get home?”

The schedules will be displayed at the Casa de Esperanza Community Center, the Safeway grocery stores on Duval Mine Road and Continental Road, Family Dollar Store, and the Green Valley Sahuarita Chamber of Commerce. Smaller schedules will be given to the businesses along the bus routes and mailed to members of Green Valley homeowner associations.

jrichardson@gvnews.com | 547-9726