Nearly 5.3 billion trips were taken on U.S. public transportation in the first six months of 2015, according to a report released today by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). This is a 0.9 percent decrease over the same period last year, representing 50 million fewer trips.
The public transportation systems reported the highest ridership in their history are Capital District Transportation Authority (Albany, NY), Caltrain (San Carlos, CA), EMBARK (Oklahoma City), Metro Transit (Minneapolis, MN), Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation (Greensboro, NC), and Sound Transit (Seattle, WA).
“Since nearly 60 percent of trips are taken on public transportation for work commutes, public transit ridership often increases when employment goes up,” APTA President and CEO Michael Melaniphy said.
Nationally, heavy rail ridership increased by 0.5 percent in the first six months of 2015 with nine of 15 systems reporting increases. Ridership on commuter rail systems increased by 0.3 percent in the first half of 2015 as 16 of 28 systems reported increases.
Overall, light rail ridership decreased by 0.4 percent in the first six months of 2015 with 12 of 28 systems reporting increases.
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