WRTA director says Warren Express likely to see increased frequency

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Warren Express, a Western Reserve Transit Authority bus route that travels between Youngstown and Warren, is likely to see increased frequency sometime this year, said James Ferraro, WRTA executive director.

The route makes a trip about every 2 or 2 1/2 hours, leaving Federal Station, following U.S. Route 422 through Girard and Niles before getting to Courthouse Square in Warren.

But in the near future, the Express is expected to leave Federal Station about every hour. Ferraro said it could happen as soon as this spring.

The route has “consistently shown growth” in ridership, Ferraro said, “so that’s why we want to look at it.”

The service increased 1,569 riders from 2016 to 2017 and rose from 38,960 riders to 56,158 riders between 2012 and 2017 at a time when ridership in mass transit is generally “flat,” Ferraro said.

Ferraro said he expects to see a sizable increase in ridership if the frequency is increased to about once per hour.

He said WRTA gets “a number of requests to get more frequent trips headed that way or coming back.” He said the Warren Express has about the fifth- or sixth- highest ridership numbers out of the WRTA’s 27 routes.