L-Cat’s first annual “Dump the Pump” day, where riders are given free rides for a day, was successful, more than doubling the ridership on Thursday.
Dump the Pump is a national campaign to familiarize the public with public transportation. Ken Barrows, L-Cat manager, said total ridership yesterday was 219 riders.
“That’s the first time we’ve gone over 200,” Barrows said.
Barrows said the free rides were mostly for the routes. The west route has been running about 25 passengers a day. That route picked up 53 riders Thursday. The east route has been running about 30 passengers a day. Yesterday, the route had 64 riders.
“There was a couple of different times yesterday that we had full buses,” Barrows said. “We had to send another bus to pick up people.”
Barrows said many riders rode the bus for the first time.
“We had some moms that brought children out and went to the zoo,” he said. “Another group went to Peter Pan Park. Those are people who said they had never ridden the bus before. We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish.”
Barrows said L-Cat plans to take part in Dump the Pump next year. Plans are already underway to make it bigger and better, he said.