As part of its 2018 State Conference and Expo, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Region VII honored the City of Independence, Southeast Missouri State University, City of Houston, the City of El Dorado Spring and OATS Transit for increasing ridership on their respective public transit systems.
Representatives with the Federal Transit Association Region VII were on hand to honor transit organizations throughout the state with an Award of Excellence for ridership increases among urban, small urban and rural public transit systems in Missouri between 2016 and 2017. This included the City of Independence for an increase of 42 percent or 118,013 riders; Southeast Missouri State University for a 7 percent increase or 22,239 riders; the City of Houston for increasing ridership of the Houston Shuttle by 10 percent or 1,378 riders; and the City of El Dorado Springs Transit Service for a 10 percent increase or 1,102 riders. OATS Transit was presented with an Award of Recognition for increasing ridership by 78,278 riders.
“It is exciting to see transit ridership on the rise on many of the Missouri transit systems especially in light of the fact that transit ridership is on the decline nationally. It really tells the story that our members are delivering a much needed service in many of Missouri’s communities, and with state support could do so much more,” said Kimberly Cella, MPTA Executive Director.