ST. LOUIS, Mo. - In a week, Metro will be putting more buses on the road to deal with increased demand.

Starting June 11, more busses will be traveling from stops in and around North St. Louis County to satisfy a 15 percent increase in riders between January and the end of March. Metro Chief of Planning, Jessica Mefford-Miller says a mild winter and more people heading back to work means more people on the bus. People got on Metro bus 7.15 million times between January 1 and the end of March.; that’s up from 6.18 million this time last year.

She says in the next five years Metro would like to expand service along major highways like 70, 64, 44, and 55.

Mefford-Miller says this kind of expansion can only keep happening if federal dollars keep coming in, because passenger revenue only covers about 23 percent of operating cost for Metro.

“With the uncertainty right now with the transportation bill, that’s a bit of a question mark,” she said.

A study from the American Public Transportation Association showed an increase in public transportation across the country. St. Louis was average in growth for light rail.