All across the country, commuters are turning to transit as an alternative to outrageous gas prices.
Public transit use jumped 5.2% for the April-June period, compared to the same months last year, according to a survey released by the American Public Transportation Association. The association said Americans took more than 2.8 billion trips on public transportation in the second quarter of 200News and Events, almost 140 million more trips than last year.
In contrast, the Federal Highway Administration has reported that the vehicle miles traveled on our nation’s roads declined by 3.3 percent in the second quarter.
Ridership on light rail lines showed the greatest increase, up 12.3% nationwide.
Buffalo commuters are leading the nation; Metro Rail ridership skyrocketed 45.9% in the second quarter of this year compared to 2008 passenger counts. Ridership went from 1.2 million in the second quarter of 2007 to almost 1.8 million trips in the same period this year. This may be in part because the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority has added cars to runs and moved up the starting time of weekday service to accommodate the growing demand.
Light rail systems also showed double digit increases in the following areas: Philadelphia (34.9%); Kenosha, WI (26.9%); Sacramento (26.3%); Salt Lake City (19.4%); Minneapolis (16.0%); Baltimore (13.7%); San Francisco, CA (12.2%); and Pittsburgh (12.0%).
Bus ridership saw an increase with a 5.1 percent nationwide. Ridership on commuter rail was up 4.9 percent nationally.