Any recent word on Bedford, VA getting their stop? Seems like a good investment.
8% is quite significant indeed. This would be the top end of the annual growth rate which had stabilized in the mid single digits a year or two ago. The text appears to indicate that this is the total growth rate ("help") for the entire route.
One possible reason why the improvement is so steep is that sellouts on the bus from Roanoke are no longer a limiting factor.