Bloomington Transit will continue to operate at no cost to riders heading into the new year.
The decision to remain fare-free also means buses will maintain COVID-19 safety protocols. Passengers must wear a mask as well as enter and exit through the rear doors.
Bloomington Transit General Manager Lew May said the pandemic has significantly decreased community ridership, but it will not stop operations.
“A lot of transit systems are in much worse shape financially than Bloomington Transit is. We’re very fortunate that we’ve been good stewards with our funding,” May said. “We’ve built some strong local reserves.”
Year-to-date data taken at the end of November shows ridership is down 55% compared to 2019.
“It’s significantly below what we were doing about a year ago, but of course the primary reason for that is Indiana University students are for the most part not attending classes in-person,” May said.
November 2020 data also indicates that the system’s year-to-date operating expenses were just below $6.5 million compared to the more than $7.7 million in operating revenues. That makes for about a $1.2 million surplus.
“A lot of big cities are faced with the prospect of service cuts and/or fare hikes, we’re not there yet,” May said.
Since pandemic operations began, six Bloomington Transit employees have tested positive for COVID-19.
“Which I think is pretty good that it hasn’t been more given they do have a large degree of exposure to people on their buses,” May said.
May said more buses and service routes will be added to the bus schedule under the same COVID-19 guidelines once students return to campus in early February.
