At tomorrow night’s worksession, the Council will discuss the Shuttle-UM program, its proposed cost, and next steps.
The annual MOU between the City of College Park and the University of Maryland Department of Transportation Services (DOTS) expires on September 1, 2012. DOTS recommends a fee of $6,000 for the Shuttle-UM for FY 2013, the same rate which was paid in FY 2012, for any set number of passes to enable pass-holders to ride all Shuttle-UM buses at any time.
The program began in September 2008 with an MOU between the University of Maryland and the City. The MOU allows residents who display a City-issued pass to ride the Shuttle-UM at no charge. Residents who display proof of residency at City Hall or Davis Hall receive a complimentary pass to ride the Shuttle-UM and the passes do not expire.
Staff sent a survey to pass-holders requesting information about their shuttle usage, which shows DOTS ridership statistics for each year of the program. The numbers show a very notable increase in ridership of about 123 percent from 2010/11 to 2011/12.
Let me know if the Council should renew the UM-Shuttle contract again for the FY 2013 period.
Bill Smith
What is the actual ridership per year?
Fazlul Kabir
Bill, Great question. Here are the ridership stats for the past few years:
2008 – 2009: 512
2009 – 2010: 289
2010 – 2011: 612
2011 – 2012: 1362