Transportation

GOAL: Expand affordable public transportation services, i.e. R.Y.D.E., to meet unmet needs of Buffalo County residents

Ridership

Baseline: 55,280 riders in 2001 (Source: RYDE 2001)

Target: Decrease unmet needs

Riders Turned Away

Estimated Baseline: 5,015 (estimated) riders turned away from services (Source: RYDE 2001)

Target: Decrease unmet needs

Rationale

Reliable public transportation is essential for a community to access services, build relationships and conduct commerce. As a community, we recognize only by addressing these important civic infrastructure issues will health and quality of life be enhanced. Elderly, disabled, and low income can be particularly disadvantaged by the lack of access to reliable public transportation. As a community we can track the number of riders turned away from services through the R.Y.D.E. system, but as a community we also acknowledge that we have a number of residents that are not being tracked in riders turned away from services, which would include rural residents and school children. In 2004, Kearney started a Walking School Bus that is meeting the needs of some Kearney youth.