Nearly 8 billion trips were taken on U.S. public transportation in the first nine months of 2015, according to American Public Transportation Association (APTA). This is a 1.2 percent decrease over the same period last year, representing 95.6 million fewer trips. During this same time period, the average price of gas during the first nine months was USD 2.42, a drop of 30 percent.
Nationally, heavy rail ridership increased by 0.3 percent in the first nine months of 2015 with 11 of 15 systems reporting increases. Light rail ridership increased by 0.3 percent in the first nine months of 2015 with eight of 27 systems reporting increases. Overall, ridership on commuter rail systems increased by 0.2 percent in the first nine months of 2015 as 14 of 29 systems reported increases.
“Some public transit systems saw record ridership in the first nine months, including Sound Transit (Seattle, WA) and Link Transit (Wenatchee, WA). Metro Transit (Minneapolis, MN) saw the highest ridership in decades and at the Cleveland RTA’s heavy rail ridership went up 3.6 percent, a hefty increase for a public transit system,” APTA Chair Valarie J. McCall said.
Photo: www.livenynow.com
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