RAPID CITY, SD—Rapid Transit System (RTS) recorded 19,590 passenger trips during June, a 17 percent increase over the same month a year ago and a five-year high in ridership for the month of June since the COVID restrictions in 2020.
June’s overall ridership total increased more than 3,300 passenger trips over June 2024 when 16,271 trips were recorded. More than 231,000 passenger trips have been tallied on Rapid Transit System buses, including RapidRide and Dial-A-Ride operations, since last September.
Despite the end of the 2024-25 school year, there was a also large increase in youth ridership in June on RapidRide buses. A total of 3,020 youth passenger trips were recorded as part of the ‘Youth Ride Free’ program in June, a whopping 34 percent jump over the 1,992 youth trips recorded in June 2024.
For more information about the RTS program, visit www.rapidride.org or call 605-394-6631. In addition, parents and guardians can contact Rapid Transit Service to register for the youth ridership program or go online to rapidride.org and click on the ‘Youth Ride Free’ button.