[EastSideHBG]

It's only, what, 2006?!? LOL But I guess better late than never!

And this article highlights some VERY important things like A) the region is finally working together and B) ridership is way up! I am a little leery of putting so much stock in buses, though, as they sit in the same traffic jams the rest of the commuters do, and this is even further proof IMO that CorridorONE, CorridorTWO, etc., will be a great success!


York area commuters make jump to buses

Drivers tired of traffic, rising gasoline prices hop on rabbitExpress

Saturday, June 24, 2006
BY DAN MILLER
Of The Patriot-News

Veronica Ulrich is enjoying lower gasoline bills and less stress.

She started using a new bus service this week that is offered by rabbitExpress, a division of York-based rabbittransit. The York County woman commutes to downtown Harrisburg every day.

On Monday, rabbitExpress began the service, which includes six round trips each weekday from the York area to downtown Harrisburg and Harrisburg Area Community College. The one-way fare is $3.

The black rabbitExpress buses feature satellite television, but Ulrich said she is too busy catching up on reading to notice. She arrives in Harrisburg early enough for a workout before she has to be at her job in the state inspector general's office.

"I really hate driving on Interstate 83," Ulrich said Thursday while waiting for the 5:10 p.m. rabbitExpress bus for a return trip to the Emigsville park-and-ride lot. "My knuckles would be white, my teeth chattering, and my stomach lodged in my throat from watching people trying to kill each other."

The service has been in the works since 1999, said Richard Farr, executive director of rabbittransit.

The bus company had projected the service would be used by about 50 passengers daily. Farr now estimates daily riders at 60 or more.

"We think it's only the beginning," he said.

Capital Area Transit views rabbitExpress as an opportunity, not a competitor, said CAT Executive Director Jim Hoffer. CAT allows rabbitExpress to use its transfer center at Second and Market streets in Harrisburg.

"This could mean some additional business and new customers for CAT," Hoffer said. "I see this as a win-win for the citizens, for rabbittransit and for CAT."

Farr said rabbittransit also is following up on Hoffer's suggestion for a joint transfer pass.

RabbitExpress riders can use credit cards on the bus to buy fare cards and discounted multitrip passes. Farr said the company wants to sell tickets online.

Rabbittransit is working on a commuter-alert system. Text messages would be sent to passengers' cell phones at a bus stop to alert them that a bus is delayed.

The service includes a free ride home if there is an emergency and a customer cannot wait for the next bus.

As for CAT, it has had 28 straight months of ridership exceeding the same month in the year before. In May, CAT's average daily ridership was 22 percent higher than in May 2005, Hoffer said.

He attributed the increase to higher fuel prices and new routes.