Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Public Transit Ridership rises despite Hurricane Sandy
Ridership on buses, subways and other modes of public transportation in the USA rose 1.5% to 10.5 billion trips last year, the highest annual total since 2008, according to a new report.
Although Superstorm Sandy and its aftermath slowed ridership on some of the nation's largest transit systems, at least 16 systems reported record ridership numbers in 2012, says the American Public Transportation Association.
"When Sandy hit, and the snowstorm that followed it, an estimated 74 million (transit) trips were lost, and yet we still had the second-highest ridership since 1957," said APTA president and CEO Michael Melaniphy.
Melaniphy says the increase in transit ridership was driven, at least partly, by high gas prices, the volatility of those prices and the nation's changing demographics. ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/11/public-transportation-rides-increase-in-2012/1977427/