Overall/youth rider numbers see continued increases
RAPID CITY, SD—Ridership on Rapid Transit System (RTS) buses increased 11 percent in April compared to the same month a year ago with over 24,400 passenger trips recorded.
Overall ridership for the RapidRide and Dial-A-Ride programs totaled 24,436 trips, a considerable increase over the 21,826 trips recorded in April 2024. By comparison, last month’s overall ridership total increased more than 9,000 trips over the total recorded just four years ago in April 2021, when 15,127 trips were tallied.
Youth ridership numbers also experienced a significant spike in April. A total of 6,219 youth trips were recorded last month, a 9 percent increase over April 2024 when 5,657 trips were recorded. Last month’s youth ridership numbers are more than double the youth passenger totals from just three years ago in April 2022 (3,046).
“April was another very good month for both youth and overall ridership,” said RTS Manager Megan Gould-Stabile. “We start to see some reduction in ridership among the youth as the weather gets warmer, but the numbers were very solid.”
APRIL RIDERSHIP TOTALS (Overall):
Year Ridership Total
2025 24,436
2024 21,826
2023 17,784
2022 15,583
2021 15,127
APRIL RIDERSHIP TOTALS (Youth Ride Free):
Year Ridership Total
2025 6,219
2024 5,657
2023 3,889
2022 3,046
For more information about the RTS program, visit www.rapidtransitsystem.org or call 605-394-6631.
