A decrease in ridership for August that appears to have been caused by the introduction of a new fare system recently led Amtran to make special accommodations for riders uncomfortable with the new method.

On Aug 4, Amtran “went live” with EZfare, which relies on riders downloading an app on their smart phones, then creating an account — rather than loading fare money on the old myFare Smart Cards by visiting Amtran offices or speaking with drivers upon boarding buses.

Some riders have been “intimidated” by the new smart phone process, so Amtran has consulted new system provider Masabi for a workaround, whereby riders can use a facsimile of the old method by coming to the Amtran offices to have EZfare cards loaded with credit, according to Interim CEO Michele Barnes.

“We’re trying to be flexible,” Barnes said.

The issue showed up statistically with a 2% decrease in ridership during this August, compared to August of last year.

The hope is that “September will look a little different,” as riders who were uncomfortable with the new system get used to it, Barnes said.

If there is no ridership recovery, “we will drill down on the data,” Barnes said.

In checking out the ridership decrease, management evaluated its school tripper usage and its fixed route usage and discovered the decrease was all in the fixed routes, according to Barnes.

In other developments, Amtran recently named a new chief financial officer: Katie Vescovi.

Vescovi has experience in public accounting and auditing, Barnes said.

She has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.