September 2009 Patronage – another decent result

ARTA’s September 2009 Monthly Business Report is out, and – continuing the trend of the past few months – shows solid, if unspectacular, growth in public transport patronage. Total patronage was up 3.6% on September 2008 – which equates to 181,882 additional boardings throughout the month. Considering that petrol prices in September 2008 were pretty close to $2 a litre, it’s quite impressive that patronage was still able to increase this year – even though prices are around 40c a litre cheaper than they were a year ago.

Here’s a summary of patronage data for September 2009:
And a look at the trends for the past few years – the 12 month rolling average line is of most importance here:

It’s good to see bus, rail and ferry patronage all increase in September. In particular, it is good to see that ferry patronage has now had a few months of increases – offsetting the months of falling patronage we saw in the second half of last year and the first half of this year.

In terms of infrastructure developments throughout September, there were quite a few areas where advancements were made – although it won’t be until January 2010 that we see the results of this year’s works, when Newmarket Station opens: Another pretty good month for public transport, although I must say I do miss the big growth rates of 2008 and early 2009. I think that the lower petrol prices compared to 2008, and the lull between improvements to the public transport network throughout 2009 has contributed to the slower rate of growth.