APTA (American Public Transportation Association) just came out with a report citing 2006 ridership figures. Among the findings:
- More than 10 billion trips taken on bus and rails in 2006 nationwide
- 2.9% increase over 2005
- Highest levels of ridership since 1957
- Ridership nationally has increased by 28% over the last decade
This is great news and again proves that even without first-class transit systems in every city, people still are willing to ride transit. Just imagine the ridership gains if all of our major cities did have first-class transit systems.
APTA president William Millar stated in the article, “Certainly a lot of the growth last year was with the high gas prices”. This offers more support to raise our gas taxes. This may be especially necessary for the future of South Florida transit, given cutbacks in funds the region could see if the proposed property tax rollback bill is passed. Raising gas taxes will better represent the true cost of oil, encourage more people to ride transit, and generate millions of dollars to improve transit.
Great news!
Perhaps this will inspire improvements from our local government.