From: "Friends of Transit" To: Subject: Rapid bus - AZ Rep Article Date: Thursday, July 29, 2004 11:19 AM RAPID bus routes prove popular, are expanding advertisement Bob Golfen The Arizona Republic Jul. 29, 2004 12:00 AM Four more bus trips start Monday on the popular RAPID commuter bus lines in response to increased ridership. The new trips will affect three rush-hour bus routes, with two trips added to Interstate 10 East and one each to I-10 West and Interstate 17. "Some of our RAPID trips are standing-room-only every day," said Debbie Cotton, acting director of the Phoenix Public Transit Department, which runs the service in conjunction with Valley Metro. The RAPID service recently marked its first anniversary with a growing number of regular passengers and four morning and evening routes that bring riders on non-stop freeway rides from the outskirts of Phoenix into downtown. The service counts about 2,600 daily passenger boardings. Using specially built commuter buses with high-back seats and other amenities, RAPID is considered to be the premium bus line, compared with regular local bus service. Fifty-six distinctive-looking buses built for freeway travel were purchased for the service, and eight Park and Ride lots were built, through the Phoenix Transit Plan, passed by voters in March 2000. Rising fuel prices, air-pollution concerns and increased traffic congestion have been cited by Valley Metro as reasons for the growth of RAPID ridership. Bus ridership usually declines during the summer when families are on vacation and students are out of school, but RAPID ridership took an upswing this summer during June, according to Phoenix Public Transit. In April, when gas prices spiked in the Valley, RAPID added five trips to its schedule, although transit officials said that steady growth in ridership had been building independently of gas prices. Those extra trips have remained in effect, said Marie Chapple, Valley Metro spokeswoman. "When we added those new trips, part of the issue was that the trips preceding and following the new times were very full," Chapple said. "We put them at the high-demand times." The four new trips also will be permanent additions, she added.