Metro Ride

Metro Ride
ParentCity of Wausau
Headquarters420 Plumer Street
LocaleWausau, Wisconsin
Service areaMarathon County
Service typeBus service, Paratransit
Routes17
HubsWausau Transit Center
Fleet22 Gillig transit coaches
Annual ridership
337,884 (2022)
WebsiteOfficial site

Metro Ride, formerly Wausau Area Transit System (WATS), provides public bus transportation in the Wausau, Wisconsin area.

Metro Ride operates 7 routes in the City of Wausau, which run at 30-minute intervals. The service also provides several express routes to supplement the main routes when school is in session.

Hours of operation are 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekdays, with no services on weekends. The main transfer facility is located in the downtown area and also serves intercity buses.[needs update]

Routes

All routes operate from the transit center.

Service to Rothschild, Schofield and Weston ended in 2015, along with weekend service. At the same time, fares were raised.

Wausau Transit Center

The Wausau Transit Center is located at in downtown Wausau, across from the Marathon County Courthouse. The facility replaced a 1976 transit center located on an adjacent lot to the west of the current center. The new facility was built in 2005 and has space for about ten buses.

Ridership

YearFixed Route RidershipParatransit RidershipTotal RidershipChange over previous year
2013 672,2243,388675,612Increase6.47%
2014 654,0783,303657,381Decrease2.7%
2015 577,0442,504579,548Decrease11.84%
2016 529,8313,021532,852Decrease8.06%
2017 498,9024,152503,054Decrease5.59%
2018 503,3593,841507,200Increase0.89%
2019 468,5554,120472,675Decrease6.81%
2020 252,8121,683254,495Decrease46.16%
2021 284,3783,050287,428Increase12.94%
2022 337,8843,273341,157Increase18.69%
2023 359,3632,937362,300Increase6.2%

2012-2016 data from 2018 Wausau Transit Development Plan. 2017-2020 data from National Transit database.

YearService HoursService Miles
2012 26,729375,988
2013 29,372411,843
2014 29,854404,710
2015 27,028375,626
2016 26,722376,478
2017 27,324377,052
2018 26,502376,034
2019 26,407376,816
2020 23,621343,693
2021 27,017381,209
2022 27,150375,959

See also

References

  1. ↑ City of Wausau Transit System
  2. ↑ "Metro Ride Transit Development Plan May 2012" (PDF).
  3. 1 2 "Wausau Metro Area Transit Development Program May 2018" (PDF).
  4. ↑ "38 years ago: Wausau bus service 'needs friends'".
  5. ↑ "Metro Ride Transit Development Plan May 2012" (PDF).
  6. ↑ "Wausau Area Transit System Transit Development Plan May 2006" (PDF).
  7. ↑ "2017 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  8. ↑ "2018 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  9. ↑ "2019 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  10. ↑ "2020 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  11. ↑ "2021 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  12. ↑ "2022 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  13. ↑ "2023 Annual Agency Profile" (PDF).
  14. ↑ "City of Wausau, Wisconsin | FTA".