Regional transit agency C-Tran released updated ridership numbers on Monday, detailing a dramatic — but not unexpected — decline in bus ridership for the week of March 22 to 28.
The overall system showed a decline of 35.8 percent compared with the prior week, and ridership for the month through March 28 showed a 27.5 percent decrease compared with the same point in February.
Commuter services — meaning C-Tran’s Express bus routes between Vancouver and Portland — saw the greatest hit last week, with a 44.6 percent decline from the prior week. C-Van paratransit service saw a 44.2 percent drop, and local bus routes including The Vine saw a 35 percent drop.
Transit ridership has fallen steeply following Gov. Jay Inslee’s introduction of a mandatory statewide stay-at-home order that temporarily closed down businesses not considered essential during the COVID-19 outbreak.
C-Tran has said it will continue running buses to serve workers at essential jobs. The agency’s local bus schedules have not been changed, although C-Tran did announce last week that it would temporarily reduce the frequency of several of its Express routes.
