Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority (LAVTA) Wheels and Rapid bus ridership hit its highest in a decade, surpassing 8,000 weekday passengers on average for the first time since the Great Recession started.

The Tri-Valley public transit operator experienced a “significant” increase of 25,000 passengers last month, according to LAVTA representatives, and total system wide use grew almost 17% since September 2018. LAVTA serves nearly 2 million riders in Alameda County each year including the cities of Dublin, Livermore and Pleasanton through their Wheels bus and paratransit services.

A sudden swell of students was largely credited for a 40% climb in ridership on routes serving Pleasanton middle and high schools from last year. Officials said that half of the growth was “attributable to increases on two routes serving Amador Valley High School.”

“Student parking at the school was significantly reduced during the school’s parking lot solar panel project and many students took advantage of free rides funded by the Pleasanton Unified School District,” the agency said.

Routes serving middle and high schools in Dublin had 45% more riders this September compared to last year, while nearly 1,000 middle and high school students in the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District also signed up for a free Clipper card program funded by the Alameda County Transportation Commission.

This was the second academic year for the Las Positas College Student Transit Pass Program, which is funded by a student mobility fee and boosted September’s ridership numbers among Las Positas College students more than 20% from the year before.

LAVTA’s two Rapid routes, the 10R and 30R, which provide limited stop service connections to and from the Dublin/Pleasanton BART Station, make up more than half of the agency’s monthly patronage. The two routes met a 10% uptick from the previous year.

In a statement, Dublin Mayor David Haubert, chair of the LAVTA Board of Directors, called the upsurge, “a significant achievement, given that many Bay Area transit agencies have been experiencing ridership declines in recent years.”

“Our staff has done a great job of reaching out and developing partnerships with Tri-Valley educational institutions to increase awareness and utilization of our services,” Haubert said.