MIDLAND, Texas — If you rode the EZ Rider buses in February 2024, you were a part of a significant increase.
The Midland-Odessa Urban Transit District said they saw an increase of about 32% this February from last February. In February 2023, there were 7,905 riders in Midland. In February 2024, there were 10,473 riders in Midland, according to the district.
"We run about 240,000 to 260,000 riders per year between both cities (Midland and Odessa)," said Kayleen Hamilton, acting general manager of EZ Rider.
Not to throw COVID-19 under the bus, but EZ Rider have been working to recover their numbers ever since the pandemic started.
"During the pandemic, of course, transit agencies across the country saw major decreases, some as much as 80% in ridership," Hamilton said.
And it seems like they’ve worked their way back.
One of the reasons for the huge change might've had to do with severe weather in 2023.
"Last year we had some weather events that prevented people from being able to take transit and even prevented us at times from being able to provide service," Hamilton said. "We had a milder winter this year and so we were able to continue running service all available service days."
But still, with an increase of more than 30%, there’s several other factors.
"But I think just the overall state of inflation right now and how everybody has been seeing increases in everything," Hamilton said. "From insurance, food prices, gas prices [to] the cost of owning a vehicle."
And with an increase in car accidents in West Texas, EZ Rider is hitting the brakes on becoming a part of that statistic.
"Safety is absolutely a factor that people think about and should think about," Hamilton said. "The American Public Transit Association a couple of years ago put out some data that indicates that riding a public bus is 92% or 94% safer than riding or driving a personal vehicle, so you're less likely to be in an accident on a public bus."
For everyone skeptical, they have a travel training program right on their website that’ll walk you through the process.