Town of Blacksburg Adopted Operating Budget FY 2027

TRANSIT DEPARTMENT

NARRATIVE

Blacksburg Transit (BT) provides safe, courteous, reliable, accessible, and affordable public transportation services to the Town of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech, and the Town of Christiansburg.

FY 2026 ACCOMPLISHMENTS • Completed construction of a new bus pull-off on Patrick Henry Drive.

• Completed construction, installation, and commissioning of an on-route rapid charger at the Transit Center on the Virginia Tech campus. This equipment will support the charging of electric buses midday to maintain service throughout the day. • Publicly recognized by the America Public Transportation Association (APTA) as the 3 rd fastest growing transit system in the nation by experiencing a 26% increase in ridership in a single year. • Implemented a new demand-response scheduling software which has future capabilities of passenger scheduling through a portal or online. FY 2027 OBJECTIVES • Conduct outreach and surveys to obtain data to begin planning bus service to connect with Amtrak in Christiansburg. • Continue oversight of the construction for the expansion and renovation of BT’s Maintenance facility which will accommodate additional maintenance activities required from an increase in the bus fleet. • Continue working toward the implementation of service improvements outlined in BT’s Strategic Plan. • Begin testing functionality of the portal/online scheduling feature of the new demand response software in preparation for launch to the public.

2023/2024 Actual 3,739,457

2024/2025 Actual 4,783,530

2025/2026 Adopted 5,000,000

2025/2026 Projected 5,000,000

2026/2027 Proposed 5,250,000

BLACKSBURG TRANSIT Passenger Trips – Annual

Miles between Service Interruptions due to major mechanical problems

1,416

1,186

2,000

1,000

1,250

On-Time Performance

87%

82%

90%

81%

90%

Customer Information System Interactions

1,482,180

1,031,693

1,950,000 $120,000

1,661,240

1,800,000

Advertising Revenue Earned

$82,460

$45,350

$40,000

$40,000

Bus Operations Operating Expense per Revenue Hour Passenger Trips per Revenue Hour BT Access Operations Operating Expense per Revenue Hour Passenger Trips per Revenue Hour

$128.54

$115.50

$117.89

$117.89

$116.29

37.53

39.37

37.02

37.02

38.17

$133.20

$108.41

$103.30

$103.30

$102.55

1.71

1.59

1.61

1.61

1.62

149