RICHMOND — Progress and potential of the Cache Valley Transit District was the main focus of Tuesday’s City Council meeting. “We want to improve service in the face of hard economic times,” said CVTD board member Diane Bush.

“Two million trips were made for the second consecutive year,” Bush said. A ‘trip’ is from point A to point B. When a person boards the bus, then reaches his destination, he has made one trip. This determination is based on the national definition of the term.

What is the concern of the local members of the CVTD board? Rounds to Richmond’s transit stop, located at 500 N. 100 East, are only made every hour and a half. And, according to Bush, the Cache Valley north route is susceptible to delays due to weather and traffic.

“With more funding, we can work on that,” said CVTD general manager and CEO Todd Beutler. “It’s difficult to collect exact numbers, that is one of our challenges. Anecdotally, there’s a difference.” His claims refer to an increase in use of the free public transportation system.

“Things are looking good. More people are riding the transit,” Bush said. At the same time, there is no information regarding motivation behind the apparent increase in transit use.

CVTD, as well as Aggie Shuttle and the Cache Chamber of Commerce, are currently sponsoring the Cache in for Clean Air program that began last month and will run through February.

“We currently have 26 business partners. People can ‘Cache in’ at these places after using the transit,” Beutler said.

Concerning the Richmond stop, there are other improvements en-route that will allow more room for busses to drive and park. These changes will be seen within the next couple of months, according to Beutler.

In other business:

• Two local business licenses were approved: Mandy’s Salon and Chubby Cheek Boutique.
• Gibbons/Skabelund well has been fully and officially paid for by the city.

Published in cooperation with the Hard News Cafe. Original story is here.