Pasadena Bus Ridership Nearly Quadruples
On Pace to Become Largest Route in Harris County Transit System

Public Information Officer: Cindy Gabriel 713-578-2215; cindy.gabriel@csd.hctx.net

Harris County Transit recorded 2,558 passenger boardings the month of October on its tenth month of service to Pasadena and LaPorte residents. While October is normally a peak month in transit, November figures were only slightly lower with 2,482 boardings.
These numbers reflect enormous growth from the 661 passenger boardings recorded in January, the first month of service.

San Jacinto College students are making up the bulk of the increase. With the start of school in September students have shown consistent ridership nearing 1,000 per month.

These early Pasadana/LaPorte numbers compare quite favorably to those of the Baytown route in its infancy. The first year of the Baytown route, which started in August of 2008 passenger boardings grew to a high of 2,135 in June of 2009. Today, Baytown is averaging 4,000 passenger boardings per month.

“While it’s hard to make apples to apples comparisons between cities like Pasadena/LaPorte and the City of Baytown; total route miles in each community is about 35 miles. But Pasadena is a larger city and for that reason alone could be on pace to produce the largest number of bus riders in our system,” said Ken Fickes, Director of Harris County Transit.

While the service began with a federal Hurricane Recovery grant, it’s continuation in 2011 depended on matching grants from the City’s of Pasadena, LaPorte, Pasadena Second Century Development Corporation and San Jacinto College.

The Pasadena/LaPorte route service will turn a year old January 4, 2011.