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183 comments on DrumBeat: December 8, 2008

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AlanfromBigEasy on December 8, 2008 - 10:17am Permalink | Subthread | Comments top

Mass Transit Ridership Unexpectedly High in 3Q08

But the third-quarter increase is notable, it said, because gas prices began falling and unemployment rose, trends that tend to drive ridership down. Instead, ridership has gone up across the board nationwide. More than 2.8 billion trips were taken from July through September, rising 8.5 percent on light rail (streetcars), 7.2 percent on buses, 6.3 percent on commuter rail and 5.2 percent on subways.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/07/AR200812...

Best Hopes,

Alan

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westexas on December 8, 2008 - 10:33am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

That's what we are seeing in the Dallas area. A local transit guy told me Friday that both rail lines and express bus service are at 100% of capacity during rush hours, with little or no drop off in ridership after fuel prices fell.

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scientastic on December 8, 2008 - 11:49am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

That's a good thing. Most everyone I talk to doesn't believe the oil prices will stay this low for long. They might actually stay this low for a few years, depending on how the economy does, but that's another reason ridership is up: people still feel their budget being pinched by fuel costs, even at $1.50 a gallon.

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183 comments on DrumBeat: December 8, 2008

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