Bus driver Mike Elliot, who sports multiple tattoos and a beard, has driven buses for almost 20 years.

As a Pullman Transit driver, Elliot transports a few hundred students on and off campus through the Express 2.

Recently, riding the bus in Pullman has become a time-sensitive issue as ridership increases.

The Pullman Transit system provides 1.4 million rides per year. Per hour, there are approximately 50 riders per bus.

“It’s the bomb diggity,” Elliot said. “I’ve done it for so long.”

Pullman Transit manager Michael Wagner points to the expanding community for the increase.

“Ridership is increasing because there are more locations off campus than there were previously,” Wagner said. “There are more people trying to use the bus system.”

At its peak, the Pullman Transit system runs 15 buses over six different routes.

Routes A, E, I, and J run through downtown Pullman with on campus and residential stops.

Express 1 and Express 2 mainly transport students from off-campus housing to the WSU campus.

According to Chris Mitchell, Pullman Transit operations supervisor, in September the bus system experienced a 10% ridership increase compared to last year.

“With an increase in ridership and no increase in funding to meet that 10%,” Mitchell said. “What happens is it automatically causes waiting time to increase.”

The month of October experienced an 8 percent increase in ridership from last year.

Despite what statistics say, Wagner claims that having more buses won’t shorten waiting times.

“We could throw a hundred buses out there but at that peak time, we still couldn’t get everybody on the bus in a manner that would make them happy,” Wagner said.

Expansion of the Transit system is limited by funding as well as the layout of the Pullman community, Wagner said.

“Because of current local codes, we are not able to leave our buses outside,” Wagner said. “As we increase our fleet, we have to increase our space, and we are running out of space.”

Pullman Transit would have to purchase satellite locations in order to house more buses than what’s currently in their fleet.

Instead of getting more buses, Wagner intends to expand the bus routes for the fall semester of 2015.

“We are trying to tweak some of our expresses so they are more balanced,” Wagner said. “For the beginning of next school year, we are looking to cover new locations that we didn’t have before.”

Wagner also plans to use state funding to replace older buses in order to make the system more efficient.

In addition, Wagner is harnessing the transit system’s ties with WSU.

“The bus routes incorporate the areas already in use, but we haven’t been able to accommodate expanding areas,” Wagner said. “We are working with ASWSU to get a better idea of where those population pockets are.”

Mitchell believes that WSU’s freshman live-in rule can also account for ridership increases and the expanding off-campus population.

“That rule displaces more of the sophomores and juniors from staying on campus,” Mitchell said. “So they have to use the bus to get back on campus.”

The Pullman campus had 6,911 entering freshmen and transfer students this semester, according to the Office of Institutional Research.

Last year, only 6,509 students were entering freshmen and transfers.

Mitchell also points to the recently built Northside hall for the increase.

“When they built that new building on Colorado Street, they lost a lot of parking, about 50 spots. Now, the only way to get to that core area is to use the transit system.”

When he was a graduate student at WSU, Wagner said he rode the bus exclusively.

“As a student, there is always a perception that the system doesn’t run as efficiently as you think it could,” Wagner said. “I think it’s really important that the students understand that their comments, their suggestions, and sometimes their frustrations are listened to and addressed.”