Blacksburg Transit celebrates 30 years of service
Blacksburg Transit recently celebrated 30 years of service to the Virginia Tech campus and the New River Valley.
Launched in 1983, Blacksburg Transit began with six 30 foot buses, one van, and seven full time staff. In the three decades since, Blacksburg Transit has now expanded several times and provides a variety of services in Blacksburg and Christiansburg.
Ridership has grown from 690,000 passenger trips in 1983 to a record-breaking 3.5 million passenger trips in 2012. Today, approximately 90 percent of Blacksburg Transit's ridership comes from Virginia Tech students, 5 percent from faculty and staff, and the remaining 5 percent from area citizens.
As Blacksburg Transit begins its fourth decade of service, more changes are on the horizon.
Planning is underway for a multi-modal transit facility on the Virginia Tech campus. This new facility will create one central transfer facility while providing important connections with other regional transportation providers. The proposed facility will have two hubs, one located on the east side and one located on the west side of the Perry Street Parking Garage.
“These are exciting times for Blacksburg Transit," said Blacksburg Transit Director Rebecca Martin. "The multi-modal facility will completely change how Blacksburg Transit operates and will give the customer a more streamlined service that will be designed for their needs."
"I wish to congratulate Blacksburg Transit on its 30 years of service,” said Sherwood Wilson, vice president for administration. "Virginia Tech's continued partnership with Blacksburg Transit promotes alternative modes of transportation to faculty, staff, and students. We are pleased with the continued growth of Blacksburg Transit and are eager to add the multi-modal transit facility in the future."
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
