Internship Programs

C-TRAN hosted a handful of interns throughout 2024, a mutually beneficial experience for participants and the agency. We took a new approach over the past year and partnered with the Washington State School for the Blind, the Washington State University Vancouver and Workforce Southwest Washington Future Leaders program and the COMTO CITY intern program to select candidates interested in learning more about the different career paths available in public transit. Depending on interests and areas of study, interns were placed in different departments throughout the agency, including Human Resources, Planning, Marketing, Customer Experience and Operations. One intern, who plans to work in public transit in the future, had the unique opportunity of rotating through different departments at C-TRAN to see how they work together to form the bigger agency picture. Another worked as in intern C-TRAN’s Human Resources team before being hired on staff, a best-case scenario that allowed the intern to test-run a future career and allowed C-TRAN to find the best fit with the agency long-term.

We look forward to continuing these internship programs to raise awareness about the impact of public transit and to shape the next generation of professionals in the industry.

Ridership

In 2024, C-TRAN tallied a total ridership of 4,965,677 trips, according to preliminary data, a 10 percent increase from 2023 that continued an upward trend for the third year in a row. Among the fastest-growing routes was Route 74, which saw a 62 percent increase in ridership in 2024 after a major expansion in 2023. Route 48, serving Ridgefield, saw an 86 percent increase in ridership in 2024 compared to 2023. Overall, The Vine on Fourth Plain remains C-TRAN’s busiest route by far, with a total ridership of more than 1 million trips in 2024. The Vine on Mill Plain is the second-busiest, tallying more than 740,000 trips in 2024. As overall ridership continues to climb, some Local routes have now surpassed pre-pandemic ridership levels.

Financial Health

C-TRAN continued to prioritize responsible spending of public funds and maintained its status of operating as a debt-free agency. Local sales tax represents the bulk of the agency’s revenue, accounting for more than three-quarters of operating revenue. Other revenue comes from passenger fares, grants and other sources. The majority of C-TRAN’s expenses go toward employee salaries, wages, and benefits— which are important to retain skilled workers, and maintain a reliable, efficient transit service for the community. Additional costs include services, supplies, and other operating expenses.