Public Transit Ridership at 52-Year High
Since the creation of the Interstate highway system, Americans have never ridden public transportation as heavily as they did in 2008. This year, however, the upward trend will probably not continue.
"Ridership surged after gasoline prices hit $4 a gallon last summer and held steady in the fall after gas prices fell, the report found. But few experts expect the growth to continue this year, in part because transit systems across the country are raising fares and cutting service as the tax revenue they rely on plummets during the recession.
But for transit operators, last year’s mark was something to savor. It was the most trips on public transit since 1956, when Elvis Presley released 'Heartbreak Hotel,' Soviet tanks quashed an uprising in Hungary, and Congress passed the Federal-Aid Highway Act, which created the Interstate highway system and lured commuters to trade in their tokens and bus tickets for car keys.
Transit officials were especially heartened that Americans continued to turn to public transportation in the last quarter of the year, even after gas prices dropped."
- Login or register to post comments
- Email this page
- Public Transit's Gender Imbalance - Feb 02, 2012
- Mass Transit Projects' High Cost Give Minimal Results - Nov 09, 2011
- No Other Way: Pricing Congestion to Stop Congestion - Oct 19, 2011
- BRT Boom in U.S. - May 28, 2011
- Top Ten Cities For Public Transportation - Feb 11, 2011
Planetizen picks
Contribute
- The Benefits of Creating Hybrid Zoning Codes
- The Appeal of In-Town Big Box
- The Growing Appeal of Drinking From the Toilet
- How and Why Does an Architect Become Famous?
- Could Good Design Have Prevented the Housing Crisis?
- NY Times Defends the Port Authority
- Expanding the Hong Kong Subway, One Blast at a Time
- Can An Electric Bike Replace A Car?
- The Growing Popularity of Women-Only Mass Transit
- Putting the Bloom Back on the Rose Bowl
Volunteerism Plays Critical Role in Reaching World’s Millennium Development Goals
Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University
Feb 10, 2012
Web Seminar: Economic Development in a Digital World: Home-Based Businesses and Virtual Workers
International Economic Development Council
Feb 08, 2012
www.flickr.com
|
Why not provide the auto bailout money to transit?
It seems strange that billions are proposed for bailing out failed auto companies in the light of this. People have decisively shown their preference for travel. Why not give the money for the auto bailout to transit? Some manufacturers may be able to get contracts to build more mass transit vehicles. Many others could be employed as drivers or in the creation of cashless payment systems on transit vehicles (such as used in Chicago (the Chicago Card)). It would help support jobs and give people transit that they prefer and transit which is scaled to their earning power.