No longer shedding riders, bus system poised for future growth

GAYLORD — Similar to other public transit systems in the country, the Otsego County Bus System is gradually gaining ridership after usage plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We are running about 190 passengers a day now. In May 2020 during Covid, we averaged about 184 passengers a week," said Tim Cherwinski, director of the county system.

According to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on public transportation ridership. Ridership declines began in mid-March 2020, coinciding with stay-at-home emergency orders in many states. Ridership declined to a low point of 10 to 40 percent of pre-pandemic levels in many cities. After falling to 20 percent of pre-pandemic levels in April 2020, ridership has recovered to more than 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

"This rise in ridership is reflective of transit agencies adapting to the swiftly changing needs of their communities while delivering safe, reliable service," APTA said last September.

Cherwinski said the Otsego system provided service to 39,228 passengers in 2022, a 23 percent increase from 2021. Total miles for the system in 2022 was 225,531, representing an increase of 30,795 miles from 2021.

Cherwinski said ridership demographics have begun to reflect a slight increase in adult riders.

"Adult fares accounted for 11.8 percent of our ridership in 2021. That increased to 13.9 percent in 2022," he said.

Student fares made up 9.2 percent of the ridership in 2021, increasing to 10.7 percent in 2022. The county system's largest user group remains senior citizens and the disabled, which accounted for 76.7 percent of ridership in 2021, slipping to 73 percent in 2022.

"There are people we take to dialysis up to three times week," Cherwinski said. "We also take them to doctor appointments and grocery shopping. Keep in mind we service the whole county — from Johannesburg to Elmira and Vanderbilt."

Although many associate the bus system with serving only the senior population, Cherwinski said the service is available to everyone. If someone needs to get work done on their vehicle, they can set up appointments to have the bus system pick them up where the vehicle is being worked on and then take them back to that location later in the day when the vehicle has been fixed.

The fare structure is very reasonable: $4 for a regular fare, $3 for a student and a $2 half fare for seniors and the disabled not matter your location in Otsego County. The bus system was established in 1978 as a demand-response system servicing area seniors and persons with disabilities. In 1980, it became a countywide transit system serving all county residents.

The system runs on a fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1 and ends on Sept. 30. Its budget for 2021 was about $1.5 million, and nearly $1.4 million in 2022. For fiscal 2023 the budget should be about $1.5 million.

Before Covid, state and federal aid combined covered about 54 percent of the system's eligible expenses, noted Cherwinski, with the feds accounting for 18 percent and the state 36 percent. Covid dollars pushed the federal aid up to about 40 percent of expenses but that will probably decline back to 18 percent in 2024, said Cherwinski.

Even with the loss of some of the federal aid, the system will ask voters in the county to approve an operating millage of 0.55 of a mill in the upcoming May election. That is down from the current level of 0.60 of a mill.

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Fuel costs have increased for the system, but starting in 2017 Cherwinski began to phase out the diesel vehicles in favor of gasoline engines. That decision has helped to moderate the effects of rising fuel prices.

Maintenance costs on gasoline powered buses are also less than diesel, said Cherwinski. Fuel costs now average about $10,000 a month, about $1,500 a month more than before fuel costs began to increase

— Contact Paul Welitzkin at pwelitzkin@gaylordheraldtimes.com.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: No longer shedding riders, Otsego County Bus System poised for future growth