Metro Ride
Mass transit system in Wausau, Wisconsin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Metro Ride, formerly Wausau Area Transit System (WATS), provides public bus transportation in the Wausau, Wisconsin area.
| |
 | |
| Parent | City of Wausau |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 420 Plumer Street[1] |
| Locale | Wausau, Wisconsin |
| Service area | Marathon County |
| Service type | Bus service, Paratransit |
| Routes | 17 |
| Hubs | Wausau Transit Center |
| Fleet | 22 Gillig transit coaches |
| Annual ridership | 337,884 (2022) |
| Website | Official site |
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.[2][needs update]
Routes
All routes operate from the transit center.
- A - Grand Ave/Health Center
- B - North 1st Ave/Northcentral Technical College
- D - Bridge St/West High School
- G - Sherman St
- H - North 6th St/Riverview
- I - Stewart Ave/Aspirus Hospital
- J - Thomas St
Service to Rothschild, Schofield and Weston ended in 2015, along with weekend service. At the same time, fares were raised.[3]
Wausau Transit Center
Ridership
| Year | Fixed Route Ridership | Paratransit Ridership | Total Ridership | Change over previous year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 672,224 | 3,388 | 675,612 |  6.47% |
| 2014 | 654,078 | 3,303 | 657,381 |  2.7% |
| 2015 | 577,044 | 2,504 | 579,548 | 11.84% |
| 2016 | 529,831 | 3,021 | 532,852 | 8.06% |
| 2017[7] | 498,902 | 4,152 | 503,054 | 5.59% |
| 2018[8] | 503,359 | 3,841 | 507,200 | 0.89% |
| 2019[9] | 468,555 | 4,120 | 472,675 | 6.81% |
| 2020[10] | 252,812 | 1,683 | 254,495 | 46.16% |
| 2021[11] | 284,378 | 3,050 | 287,428 | 12.94% |
| 2022[12] | 337,884 | 3,273 | 341,157 | 18.69% |
| 2023[13] | 359,363 | 2,937 | 362,300 | 6.2% |
Fixed Route Service Trends
2012-2016 data from 2018 Wausau Transit Development Plan.[3] 2017-2020 data from National Transit database.[14]
| Year | Service Hours | Service Miles |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 26,729 | 375,988 |
| 2013 | 29,372 | 411,843 |
| 2014 | 29,854 | 404,710 |
| 2015 | 27,028 | 375,626 |
| 2016 | 26,722 | 376,478 |
| 2017 | 27,324 | 377,052 |
| 2018 | 26,502 | 376,034 |
| 2019 | 26,407 | 376,816 |
| 2020 | 23,621 | 343,693 |
| 2021 | 27,017 | 381,209 |
| 2022 | 27,150 | 375,959 |