PATS Provides 2015 Ridership Figures for the County

PATS and Senior Center HQ

The majority of riders use Prowers Area Transit Service for either medical appointments or to go to and from various shopping sites in the Lamar area. Darren Glover, Operations Director for PATS and Facility Coordinator for the Senior Center, provided an end-of-year numbers update for the Prowers County Commissioners recently.

Glover’s figures show 24,642 riders used PATS in 2015 and the highest percentage of users were for either medical (7,812) or shopping (8,914) at 31% and 36% respectively. The other, most-used reasons were for nutrition sites as well as employment/education and recreation destinations.  There were 460 rides given to Prowers County locations other than Lamar and there were also 1,173 no show/cancellations recorded.  Glover had mentioned at past commissioner meetings that the no shows were costly in terms of time and fuel, while those who had the courtesy to call and cancel a scheduled ride were appreciated.  The elderly still make frequent use of PATS with handicapped elderly riders at 3,546 and general elderly at 3,412.

The Lamar Community Resource and Senior Center had an attendance count of 10,041 for the year. March had the highest participation with 975 visitors and November posted the lowest month at 693.  The general monthly average is 850 users.

By Russ Baldwin