Thousands of smiling faces at the Parade of Lights enjoying a guest appearance from a super cool, 60′ long vehicle on it’s way to San Francisco. Thanks to a great working relationship with locally produced New Flyer, Gregg Schildberger and our Matbus team arranged a guest visit of the 60′ Hybrid Electric articulating bus we got a chance to ride and test for a fun filled day.
Thanks to all the presenters and folks that came to our Transportation Symposium!
Fargo’s moving forward in all sorts of ways. Thanks to good work by many, we’ve added Link FM, Great Rides Bike Share, North Dakota’s first protected bike lanes, and Uber Fargo just in the past 9 months
Here’s a nice TV clip on the event. Thanks Adam, Patrick and KVRR!
Buses, Bikes Keep Rolling as Public Transit Takes Off in F-M Area
Public transit, both two–wheeled and four–wheeled, has grown a lot in the last few years. The hope is that even more people hop on for a ride in years to come.
The bus is 60 feet of people moving power and it’s in town to show what public transportation can do.
“The Fargo–Moorhead community has really expanded its options for the way that we move, which is really exciting,” says Sara Watson Curry with Great Rides Bike Share.
Just in the last year, the LinkFM made getting around downtown easier, and cheaper, and the Great Rides Bike Share program set records for the number of riders per bike per day in its first year.
“We’re sort of the darlings in the bike share world,” adds Watson Curry.
Ridership in Fargo has increased dramatically in the last 10 years, going from 800,000 riders to 2.1 million per year. City leaders want to use new big bad boys like this to increase ridership even more in the future.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
^Click on the photo to see how the articulated bus pivots for a sharp turn^
“Instead of having two buses, you could almost carry as many with one bus, one driver,” says Fargo City Commissioner Mike Williams.
City officials aren’t resting on the past success of public transit.
Williams says, “We want to double it again.”
They say the benefits of public transit are two–fold. One, it’s cheaper, which is popular with the college crowd.
“Residents on average spend more on transportation than on housing. 27 percent on transportation. 24 percent on housing,” Williams explains. “Students have figure out, and so have others, that you can save a lot of money not having to drive every day.”
Two, it clears up traffic, letting everyone move around sooner.
Williams adds, “So when you see people taking transit, walking, or biking, give them a good wave because there’s more room on the road for you.” See the TV Clip
So don’t be surprised if you see more buses or bikes on the roads soon.
Fargo city leaders say it’s possible the city might purchase articulated buses in the future. As for the bike share program, there is talk of expanding across the river to MSUM and Concordia in the next couple years.
