(Spirit Lake)– An agency that provides transportation services in the region says the pandemic has taken a toll on it. In his annual report Tuesday to the Dickinson County Board of Supervisors, Hugh Lively, Executive Director of RIDES, said their ridership was off considerably this year…
“So for example, you know, this year that just ended we had 22,004. And then last year we had 31,006. So you can see there’s almost a 10,000 person drop, or a 10,000 trip drop, let me put it that way.”
Lively says while the state and federal funding they receive is based on ridership, the reduction in numbers won’t have a negative impact…
“Luckily for this next fiscal year, across the country since covid has impacted transit systems all across the country, we’re one of the fortunate ones to here in the state of Iowa for the state to continue funding us at the rate they did for FY ’19 and the federal FTA, Federal Transit Administration, is also going to fund us at the same level as they did in 2019. So we won’t be penalized for the drop in miles and passenger count.”
Lively says during the onset of the pandemic last spring they were forced to temporarily discontinue public transportation, but still provided rides for dialysis and medical appointments and partnered with Elderbridge Agency On Aging to deliver groceries.
