WFDD listener Laura Allred used to live in Greensboro and work in Asheboro. On her daily commute up and down 220, she saw big, red and black Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation, or PART, buses taking her same route.
“I've just always wondered, what is the ridership? And with all of the economic growth in the Triad area right now, are the PART buses part of the equation in helping to get the workers to the new industry that's coming to the area?”
For this edition of Carolina Curious, WFDD’s Amy Diaz spoke to PART CEO Scott Rhine to learn more.
The North Carolina General Assembly created PART in 1997 with the goal of improving mobility throughout the Piedmont Triad region.
It serves nine counties. And Rhine says they’re averaging anywhere between 22,000 and 25,000 trips a month. But that’s only 65% of the ridership PART had pre-COVID.
“We're seeing things come back up, but that's really driven by the workforce," Rhine says. "Some employers are getting back to regular work hours instead of being remote.”
Like Allred suspected, a lot of people use the buses to get to and from work. Rhine says PART also has a Vanpool program that employers like Gildan Yarns and American Airlines use specifically for their workers.
But PART bus routes also connect to the airport, malls, schools, downtowns, nature trails and even the zoo.
“There's a lot of options that most folks don't realize," he says. "And if you have an interest in saving some money, I can get you from downtown Winston-Salem to the hospital in Chapel Hill, and holy cow, I can get you there for $2.50.”
Bus fare only makes up a small portion of PART’s funding. It’s also paid for by federal and local dollars from gas and various sales taxes. Rhine likens the service to public libraries.
“You know, it's there and it's available. Does everybody use it? Well, we all live online nowadays. But are there a lot of good things that you have with the library? Yeah, there are," Rhine says. "And for some people, public transit's the same way.”
You can learn more about the PART buses and where they can take you at PartNC.org.