b'MEMBER NEWSMEMBER NEWS WETAs 2022 Ridership Shows GrowthA ccordingtonumbersfromtheSanPeak morning ridershiptrips arriving in Santhis lost income has created significant budget Francisco Bay Area Water EmergencyFrancisco or South San Francisco no later thanissues for the agency.Transportation Authority (WETA), a9:30 a.m.more than doubled in the second PVA member, San Francisco Bay Ferry carriedhalf of 2022 compared with the same monthsSince early 2020, WETA has been able to sustain more than twice as many passengers in 2022of 2021. Weekend ridership over the course ofand improve ferry service thanks to federal relief than in the prior year. 2022 was 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels. funding. Funding secured through three sep-arate relief packages allowed WETA to imple-Some 1.7 million passengers rode the ferry sys- Overall ferry ridership remains below pre-pan- ment the Pandemic Recovery Program, which tem in 2022, compared to 750,000 passengersdemic levels. While average daily ridership onenhanced service across the system, and lowered in 2021. The uptick in ridership across the sys- the ferry system reached as high as 77 percentfarestoincentivizeridershipreturns.The tem reflects a continued surge in weekend rid- of pre-pandemic levels in June 2022, overallprogram has worked, but like other California ership and a gradual, but consistent, increase infor the calendar year 2022 daily ridership wastransit systems around the state, as the federal weekday riders as more commuters returned to61 percent of February 2020 daily ridership.relief funding is exhausted, WETA is calling on worksites. BecauseSanFranciscoBayFerryreliessothe state to provide urgently-needed temporary heavily on fare revenues to fund its operation,funding to preserve jobs and avoid service cuts.MEMBER NEWSWSF Ridership Up Slightly From 2021W ashington State Ferries (WSF) car- strong increase in walk-on passengers as tour- service to pre-pandemic levels on a route-by-ried 17.4 million riders in 2022 forism and in-person work rebounded from theroute basis.a total ridership increase of roughlyCOVID-19pandemic.Walk-onpassengers 100,000, or 0.5 percent, over 2021. increased by 500,000 (17.8 percent). OverallFollowingthesuccessfulrestorationofour ridershipgrowthwasmoremodestastheAnacortes/SanJuanIslands,Seattle/Bain-Theriseinannualridershipforthenumber of vehicles carried dipped a bit. Sincebridge and Mukilteo/Clinton routes in 2022, PVA-member ferry system was fueled by alate 2021, WSF has been working to restorewekickedoffthenewyearbymovingour Edmonds/Kingston run to a trial of two-boat pre-pandemic service levels, said Patty Rub-stello, head of WSF. We plan to restore our Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworthrouteearly this year, but the timing of full restoration on EXPLORE ENGINES ourSeattle/BremertonandPortTownsend/OPTIONS HERE Coupevillerunsremainsdependentonthe number of captains and mates who complete training in spring 2023. Aftertwoyearsofvehiclesoutnumbering passengers for the only time in its history, WSF returnedtocarryingmorepassengers(8.8 million) than vehicles (8.6 million) last year. Passengers are both walk-on riders as well as anyone in a vehicle besides the driver. In addition to the year-to-year increases, state READY TO SUPPORT YOUR OPERATIONferry ridership in 2022 rose to roughly 73 per-cent of 2019 pre-COVID-19 numbers, with WITH OUR FULL PORTFOLIO OF ENGINE &vehicles at 82 percent and walk-on customers GENERATOR MODELS TO MEET YOUR NEEDS up to 49 percent of pre-pandemic levels. While it is difficult to forecast trends in the still-evolv-For more information, contact your local Cat dealer. ingnewnormal,ridershipisexpectedto2023 Caterpillar. All Rights Reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, LETS DO THE WORK, their respective logos, Caterpillar Corporate Yellow, the Power Edge and Catsteadily increase in the years ahead.Modern Hex trade dress as well as corporate and product identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission.FOGHORN 30'