Page 34 - Flathead Beacon // 5.28.14

34 | MAY 28, 2014 BUSINESS MONTHLY FLATHEADBEACON.COM

Eagle Transit Sees Growing Ridership

Local bus operator

moves more than 95,000
people annually

By JUSTIN FRANZ of the Beacon

Every weekday morning, before
most people have even stirred out of bed,
a small leet of buses hits the roads. The
buses, owned and operated by Flathead

County’s Eagle Transit, connect White-
ish, Columbia Falls and Kalispell on
nine diferent routes.
Ridership on Eagle Transit, which
is under the umbrella of the county’s
Agency on Aging, has increased 15 per-
cent since 2011. The increases come as
more Americans are choosing to use

public transit. According to a recent re-
port from the American Public Transit
Association, Americans took 10.7 billion
trips on public transportation in 2013,
the highest annual ridership number in
nearly 60 years. Since 1995, public tran-
sit ridership across the country is up 37.2

percent, which is outpacing the 20.3 per-
cent population growth.
Every month, Eagle Transit provides
8,200 rides and more than 95,000 an-
nually. Agency on Aging Director Lisa Eagle Transit’s leet includes 11 buses, which service Whiteish, Columbia Falls and Kalispell. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
Sheppard says that number will only in- drivers are dispatched. The job of or- routes, including a route to Lakeside and
crease as the county’s population grows, “THE SINGLE BIGGEST ganizing the entire operation falls to one connecting Whiteish and Colum-
speciically the elderly population. Ac- transportation manager Jim Boyd. Un- bia Falls. Sheppard said expansions like
CHALLENGE FOR EAGLE
cording to a 2013 state report, ive years der Boyd are 11 drivers, one administra- that would take more money and com-
from now seniors will make up nearly TRANSIT IN THE NEXT FIVE tive assistant and two dispatchers. The munity support. Those who do ride the
one-ifth of the county population. The dispatcher can keep track of where each bus are overwhelmingly in support of it,
study, sponsored by the Census and YEARS WILL BE THE GROWING bus is through GPS technology. They according to a 2013 onboard survey, that
Economic Information Center of the ELDERLY POPULATION.”
also help route Dial-A-Ride trips.
found that 93 percent of riders were sat-
Montana Department of Commerce, Eagle Transit has an annual budget isied with the service.
predicts that Flathead County will gain Lisa Sheppard
of more than $1.1 million, which is fund- In the short-term, Sheppard hopes
more than 6,000 seniors between 2010 ed through state and federal grants, lo- to market the service even more and let

and 2018.
cal taxes, fares and advertising. Eagle people know that Eagle Transit is there
“The single biggest challenge for Ea- their own. Seniors are still a critical part Transit makes about $45,000 each year to serve the community.
gle Transit in the next ive years will be of the bus service’s mission and a Dial-A- by wrapping the buses with advertise- “People here grow up driving cars
the growing elderly population,” Shep- Ride door-to-door service is available to ments. It also has an $800,000 contract and it’s tough for someone to change
pard said. “(But) I want the entire com- those who meet certain criteria. Eagle to run shuttle buses inside Glacier Na- that,” Sheppard said.
munity to know we’re here because it’s a Transit also ofers inner-city routes in tional Park during the summer.
“But once people start using the ser-
great tool for the community, for every- Kalispell, Whiteish and Columbia Falls In 2013, Eagle Transit commis- vice it becomes a necessity,” Boyd added.

one from students to the elderly.”
and the city-to-city commuter runs in sioned a ive-year transit development For more information abut Eagle
Since the late 1980s, Eagle Transit the mornings and evenings.
plan. A Colorado-based transportation Transit, visit www.lathead.mt.gov/ea-
has ofered bus service throughout the The entire operation is based out of consultant company compiled the re- gle.
county and, initially, it was aimed at old- a facility south of Kalispell where the port and recommended, among other [email protected]
er citizens who could no longer drive on
11 buses are stored and maintained and
things, expanded service hours and new

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