Using the bus to get to work is becoming more popular with downtown Ann Arbor workers.

That's according to some exciting new data on go!pass ridership collected by the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority and the getDowntown Program.

The go!pass is a transit pass employers can buy for their employees that allows employees unlimited rides on all AATA fixed-route buses, in addition to other discounts.

The Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority provides a grant for the passes, which significantly reduces the cost of the passes for downtown employers. The getDowntown Program sells go!passes to organizations located in downtown Ann Arbor.

In March 2011, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (TheRide) reports that 62,019 rides were taken using the go!pass. This ridership is a 26 percent increase over March 2010 and sets a monthly record for go!pass use. This increase is also significantly higher than the increase in overall bus ridership that the TheRide is currently experiencing.

According to data collected from the new swipeable go!passes, the increase in go!pass ridership is due in part to more people using go!passes as well as a higher average ridership per pass. In March 2011, a total of 2,515 people used a go!pass.

All of these numbers reflect increases over previous months where swipe data is available. A total of 493 downtown organizations offer go!passes to their employees, which is also the highest number of organizations since the go!pass program began in 2000.

Some possible reasons for the increase in go!pass use could be that using the bus to get to work is becoming more acceptable to downtown employees, higher gas prices are causing employees to seek out other options and employers are less likely to offer parking for their employees.

Click here for more information on the go!pass.

Nancy Shore is the program director of getDowntown. Reach her at nancy@getdowntown.org.