Public bus transportation to and from the Syracuse airport, restored last September for the first time in 15 years, will continue with an additional weekday run.
Centro this month has added a 14th weekday trip on its Mattydale line, which provides service between the bus provider’s downtown Syracuse hub and the Syracuse Hancock International Airport. In addition, it has restored a stop along small loop off Route 11 that had been eliminated for a yearlong airport service trial.
The changes came following a public hearing in August on whether to make airport service permanent. Ridership data and feedback at that hearing lead to the changes implemented this week, said Steven Koegel, Centro’s vice president of communications and business development.
After an initial period of decreased usage, year-over-year monthly ridership on the lines serving the Route 11 corridor has steadily grown since April. That month, rides increased 4.1% compared with April 2023. By July, the annual increase was at 22%.
Centro officials presented this data at an Aug. 13 hearing on a proposal to make the trial airport service permanent, but several riders who live in Mattydale came to express their frustration at the elimination of a small loop off Route 11 south of the airport, which was forcing them to walk more than a mile to catch a bus.
Koegel said Centro took the feedback and figured out a way to restore that loop — along Malden, Florida and Molloy roads — while continuing to serve the airport.
“Ridership on this bus route has been growing significantly since the end of spring. However, we think returning service to (Malden, Florida and Molloy roads) serves the overall public good and has the potential to increase ridership even more,” Koegel. “We want to thank the individuals who expressed their concern at our recent public hearing. Your valuable input helped us make this decision.”
Prior to last September, Centro last served in the airport in 2009 but the stop was eliminated due to low ridership. Syracuse was the only major airport along the state Thruway corridor without direct public transportation access.
But growth at the airport, where about 2,500 people now work, has created demand for low-cost transportation for the lower-wage staff who may not have access to a vehicle, airport officials said. They convinced Centro to add an airport bus stop on a trial basis last September, with 13 stops on weekdays and three on Saturdays. Going forward, a 14th run is now included weekdays in the middle of the day. There continues to be no Sunday service.
Before the stop at the airport, the closest Centro stop was a 1.8-mile walk. Some employees were spending a significant portion of their pay on services like Lyft and Uber, which typically charge $30 to $35 for a one-way ride to the airport. At times, managers would go pick up their employees at their homes when cost became more than they had available.
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