Public Transit Use Reaches A 57-Year High

It has taken a global recession, stagnating wages, and high gas prices, but use of public transportation in America has reached a 57-year high. Public transit use has leaped up more than 37% since 1995, one study finds, and this could be a key factor in pushing for improved access to better mass transit systems.

Put out by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the study finds that Americans took some 10.7 billion trips on subways, buses, and streetcars across the country. This is the highest estimated public transit usage since 1956, which is about when the American auto industry really started to hit its stride and transit use started to slide toembarrassingly-low levels.

Public transit use has grown for the past six consecutive quarters, a growing trend since 2008 when gas prices surged over $4.00 a gallon. But it seems like America has experienced a fundamental shift in how public transportation is perceived, and the old Homer Simpson “Public transportation is for suckers” mentality is starting to fade, especially among Millennials. With renewed interest in living in places like New York City and San Francisco, where owning a car is often more hassle than its worth, it’s a natural transition for many people to seek out alternatives like car sharing or public transit.

Americans are also driving less overall, with peak miles traveled dating back to 2007. Even though most of us are “used to” $3.00+ a gallon gasoline, it doesn’t mean that most of us can afford the luxury of, you know, just driving.

It’s a good trend for the environment, and America overall, as our public transportation system has been woefully underfunded and unimproved in the past decades. With public transit use growing though, new projects and improvements are bound to break ground, opening the door to even greatest mass transit usage.

That also means more room on the road for car lovers like you and I. Can you dig it?

Source: APTA | Image: Design by Zouny

American Public Transportation Association Predicts Significant Ridership Increases With Gasoline Above $5 per Gallon

A study released by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) predicts that as gasoline prices continue increasing, Americans will turn to public transportation in record numbers. APTA is calling on Congress to address this impending demand by providing a greater long-term investment in public transportation.

The APTA analysis finds that if regular gas prices reach $4 a gallon across the nation, an additional 670 million passenger trips could be expected, resulting in more than 10.8 billion trips per year. If pump prices jump to $5 a gallon, the report predicts an additional 1.5 billion passenger trips can be expected, resulting in more than 11.6 billion trips per year. If prices were to soar to $6 a gallon, expectations go as high as an additional 2.7 billion passenger trips, resulting in more than 12.9 billion trips per year.

We must make significant, long-term investments in public transportation or we will leave our fellow Americans with limited travel options, or in many cases stranded without travel options. Public transit is the quickest way for people to beat high gas prices if it is available.

—APTA President William Millar

Many of the public transit systems across the country are already seeing large ridership increases, some reaching double digits in the month of February as compared to the previous year. As examples, APTA cites: the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority in Pompano Beach, FL increased by 10.6%; Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority of Philadelphia, PA increased by 10%; and the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority of Oakland, CA increased by 14%.

The projected estimates use the 2010 APTA Public Transportation Ridership Report as a baseline. The ridership is then increased by the reported elasticity multiplied by the projected price change to show ridership growth at a given increase above the average price for regular gasoline as reported in the last 2010 report by the Energy Information Administration of the US Department of Energy.

Source: Green Car Congress