Categories: Business, News, Schenectady County

The Capital District Transportation Authority will have set another ridership record in the fiscal year that ended at midnight last night.

Though the final number won’t be known until Thursday’s ridership count is completed, the number is already more than the 17 million customers carried last year, CDTA officials said.

It is the third straight year in which CDTA has set a ridership record, and the mass transit provider’s sixth consecutive year of ridership growth.

Last year’s record was 17,000,739 riders, and that number has already been passed. On average ridership has been up about one percent all year, and it was up six percent in the month of February — likely due to a far milder winter this year, said authority CEO Carm Basile.

“It has been up consistently throughout the year,” Basile said.

That increase would be occurring even though gas prices are much lower than last year, and many mass transit systems nationally are carrying fewer riders.

“We are connecting with riders who stay loyal to the system, even though it now costs less to drive a car,” said CDTA board Chairman David Stackrow.

Ridership has helped by universal access agreements with colleges and employers, under which the school or employer pays so that students and employees can ride for free. The most recent was with Albany Medical Center, which has more than 8,000 employees and is one the region’s largest private employers.

Meeting Wednesday in Albany, CDTA’s board of directors adopted an $81.4 million budget for the coming year. The budget goes into effect today, since CDTA operates on the same fiscal year as the state.

Spending is up 1.3 percent from last year’s budget. While wages and employee costs are up, money is being saved on some benefits and on fuel costs, according to a budget summary.

Basile said the budget may allow for some small service expansions, like increases in how frequently buses run in the busy Washington-Western avenue corridors in Albany and Guilderland.

Ridership has helped by universal access agreements with colleges and employers, under which the school or employer pays so that students and employees can ride for free. The most recent was with Albany Medical Center, which has more than 8,000 employees and is one the region’s largest private employers.

The budget is the first in several years that hasn’t required drawing on surplus funds to balance the budget. Officials said the revenue picture is rosier than it has been.

The reasons include an anticipated $900,000 increase in state operating assistance, and a $1.7 million increase in federal aid. Additional transit aid was included in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act adopted by Congress earlier this year.

The authority also receives a small share of the mortgage recording taxes collected in Saratoga, Schenectady, Albany and Rensselaer counties, and that amount is expected to rise from $9.8 million to $10.5 million, as real estate activity improves.

There are no plans for a fare increase.

“It is great that we have funding flexibility as we develop our financial plan, something that hasn’t always been the case,” Stackrow said. “This allows us to take a look at our service levels, the demand for them and make enhancements where necessary.”

Capital spending plans include $2.9 million toward development of the Uncle Sam Transit Center in Troy and development of new shelters between there and downtown Albany. The goal is to start construction by the end of 2016.

A new rapid-transit route between Troy and Albany is planned for launch in 2018-19, at a total cost of $35 million.

CDTA is also pursuing funding for a $65 million project that would establish a rapid-transit corridor between downtown Albany and Crossgates Mall. The goal is a 2019 launch, but only if it gets federal funding.

Reach Gazette reporter Stephen Williams at 395-3086, [email protected] or @gazettesteve on Twitter.