A night bus route that serves the Sixth Street Walmart, the University of Illinois Springfield campus and Lincoln Land Community College has produced some unexpected ridership numbers over the past year.
The route has seen growth, but the highest ridership numbers were in the summer months when there are fewer students at the two campuses. In July of this year, for instance, 998 people rode the route compared to 726 in January.
Steven Simpson-Black, a Springfield resident and senior at UIS, is trying to raise awareness of the night route on campus. He’s ridden the route and also noticed that a lot of passengers get on and off at the Walmart.
“I would say (student use) is sparse at this time,” Simpson-Black said. “It has a lot to do with the fact that students still bring their cars to campus. Gas prices are not quite high enough to cause them to leave their cars at home.”
The numbers were featured in an August 25, 2011, article in The State Journal-Register.
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