Blacksburg Transit (BT) has been recognized by the Virginia Transit Association as a recipient of the inaugural Hill Spencer Ridership Award, recognizing the agency’s year-over-year ridership growth among public transit systems across the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Named in honor of Mr. Robert Hill and Dr. Turner Spencer, the inaugural presidents of the Virginia Public Transit Officials Association and the Virginia Transit Association, respectively, the award recognizes transit agencies achieving the highest percentage increase in ridership based on data from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation’s Open Data Portal. Awards are presented across four ridership categories, ranging from systems with more than 2 million annual passenger trips to those with fewer than 100,000 annually. BT was recognized in the 2 million+ annual passenger trips category.
The recognition follows a record-breaking year for BT, which provided more than 4.7 million passenger trips during fiscal year 2025 – a 26% increase over the previous year and the highest ridership total in the system’s history.
“This award reflects the hard work and dedication of our staff, the support of our community partners, and the trust our riders place in us every day,” said Brian Booth, Director of Blacksburg Transit. “We’ve worked hard to improve service reliability, efficiency, and the overall rider experience, and it’s rewarding to see those efforts recognized.”
BT’s recent ridership growth has been driven in part by the March 2025 opening of the new Transit Center located on Virginia Tech’s campus and the implementation of “The Loops” in August 2024, creating a centralized transit hub on campus and improving operational efficiency across the system.
The redesigned network has allowed BT to increase service frequency on many routes without adding additional buses while also reducing travel times and increasing route connectivity.
Recognized as the fifth largest transit system in Virginia, BT provides safe, courteous, reliable, accessible, and affordable public transportation to the citizens of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech, and partnering communities within the New River Valley.
Town of Blacksburg
