By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Ocean City’s new jitney program this summer is producing promising results for the Boardwalk loop, but only low ridership on the route serving the downtown shopping district on Asbury Avenue.
Ridership figures show that a total of 6,715 passengers rode the Boardwalk route through July 24. On average, there are 150 passengers on the Boardwalk loop each day, with young families and summer workers representing the primary ridership.
For the downtown route, there were 383 total riders through July 20, for a daily average of 21 passengers.
“The administration’s take is that the early results are promising. They’re mixed results, but they’re promising,” City Business Administrator George Savastano said during a report on the jitney service during a City Council meeting Aug. 11.
Savastano pointed out that the downtown service is attracting far fewer riders than the Boardwalk loop.
“We have some concerns about the downtown loop,” he said.
The benefits for jitney riders include low cost, convenient transportation that relieves them of the hassle of trying to find public parking during the busy summer tourism season.
Savastano said that up to this point, there have been no complaints about the service from the jitney riders.
The impetus for the new jitney service was a 2019 economic development study that recommended more public transportation in Ocean City.
This summer represented the jitneys’ debut in a pilot program. The city awarded a $60,680 contract to the Atlantic City Jitney Association to operate the service.
For a fare of just $2, the jitneys run the Boardwalk route seven days a week from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. and serve the downtown district Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Boardwalk route began May 27 and runs through Sept. 5. The downtown service started June 14 and will end Aug. 25.
Dan Kelchner, the city’s director of Community Services, indicated there are already plans to bring the jitneys back in 2023. He said the city is getting a handle on the ridership demographics for the first year and plans to expand the marketing for the jitneys in 2023 to help attract more passengers.
“Now that we know what our base is and the ridership we are targeting, we can certainly expand on the marketing area. Honestly, that is my intent, clearly,” Kelchner told the Council members during the Aug. 11 meeting.
For the first year of operation, the city has been advertising the jitney program on its website at ocnj.us/jitneyservice and on two flyers, Kelchner explained.
When the jitney program was getting ready to start in early summer, Kelchner emphasized at that time that the city would have the flexibility to make adjustments based on ridership, special events in town and even weather conditions.
The route serving the Boardwalk starts at 55th Street and West Avenue in the island’s south end and runs a continuous loop to Battersea Road and back using 14th Street as a crossover.
For the downtown service, the jitneys run along Asbury Avenue between 55th Street and Battersea Road.
Riders may keep track of the jitneys’ location in real time using the Jitney Surfer mobile app.
