Gas Prices Send Surge of Riders to Mass Transit

[depakid]

With the price of gas approaching $4 a gallon, more commuters are abandoning their cars and taking the train or bus instead.

Mass transit systems around the country are seeing standing-room-only crowds on bus lines where seats were once easy to come by. Parking lots at many bus and light rail stations are suddenly overflowing, with commuters in some towns risking a ticket or tow by parking on nearby grassy areas and in vacant lots.

“In almost every transit system I talk to, we’re seeing very high rates of growth the last few months,” said William W. Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association.

Some cities with long-established public transit systems, like New York and Boston, have seen increases in ridership of 5 percent or more so far this year. But the biggest surges — of 10 to 15 percent or more over last year — are occurring in many metropolitan areas in the South and West where the driving culture is strongest and bus and rail lines are more limited.

Here in Denver, for example, ridership was up 8 percent in the first three months of the year compared with last year, despite a fare increase in January and a slowing economy, which usually means fewer commuters. Several routes on the system have reached capacity, particularly at rush hour, for the first time.

“We are at a tipping point,” said Clarence W. Marsella, chief executive of the Denver Regional Transportation District, referring to gasoline prices.

Transit systems in metropolitan areas like Minneapolis, Seattle, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Francisco reported similar jumps. In cities like Houston, Nashville, Salt Lake City, and Charlotte, N.C., commuters in growing numbers are taking advantage of new bus and train lines built or expanded in the last few years. The American Public Transportation Association reports that localities with fewer than 100,000 people have also experienced large increases in bus ridership.

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/business/10transit.html?em&ex=1210564800&en=71ccc0af876bd293&ei=5087%0A

Cities like Seattle are going to regret having failed to invest in public transportation ....

[gateley]

1. Agree about Seattle --

I kept saying, whenever the issue arose, "mark my words - they'll add another HOV lane and be done with it."

For being such a progressive city in so many respects, it's failure to anticipate the future of the transportation problem is puzzling. And it was problematic even before the gas prices - I'd heard the traffic ranked up there as one of the worst in the country.

:shrug:

Where I live now (rural NC), we don't even HAVE a bus system! At least you can get around Seattle on the busses.

[JDPriestly]

6. Los Angeles has been even stupider about this although

the need for better public transportation has been apparent for many, many years. I live near the Gold Line that runs from Sierra Madre to the train station in downtown L.A. The Gold Line is very popular. It's a comfortable, fast ride.

[TomInTib]

2. I proudly ride the bus, now.

In times past, the mere thought of Public Transportation was apppalling to me (except when I am in NYC, and then I still hate it).

But no more.

Here in Marin, Golden Gate Transit absolutely rocks.


I still hate the subway, though.

[Selatius]

3. The federal gov't could help cities by buying more buses. Instead, it pisses it away on war.

We wouldn't be in the Middle East if we didn't need so much oil to support a "driving culture." Culture...my ass. It's faux culture, pushed by corporate propaganda about how manly and rugged it is to own your own car.

[ihavenobias]

4. I saw that and I can only hope it spurs a massive mass transit project

I'd like to hear Obama propose something along those lines. It's so OBVIOUSLY a critical part of the global warming/high oil prices solution.

It's a true no-brainer. Expensive? In the short run, of course. But in the long run, we can't afford not to.

Besides, with population growth we can't get by with our existing infrastructure. The roads are often increasingly crowded and falling apart. Not to mention all of the lost time and productivity (and gas) from sitting in traffic.

Having lived in Chicago for 7 years, I didn't need a car and I loved it. Sure, the system wasn't perfect, but it's better than most of the country.

PS---It's all about trains, which I much prefer to buses. There are pros and cons (and obviously we need more of both), but buses also get stuck in traffic and IME, are more likely to be delayed and be effected by inclimate weather.

[eleny]

5. What's old is new again...

Here in the Denver metro area, they're building more light rail lines. One section will go west from Denver to the town of Golden (Coors Beer is there) using the old trolley lines that have been out of use since 1950. It will pass just 10 blocks south of our home here in Lakewood. :D

Here's an article at the Denver Rail Heritage Society about the new line being built. --> http://www.denvertrolley.org/News/News.html
A friend of mine used to take that old trolley for picnics in Golden when she was a child. It's nice to see the historical line being refurbished.

.......................
Interesting fact in the article - this is the first yearly decline in gas purchases since 1991. 17 years.
:wow:

[My Good Babushka]

7. Bullet Train

I think it would be awesome to have a bullet train between Washington DC and NYC. I'd love to get to the galleries and museums more than once a decade.

[NNadir]

8. Good.

[Finishline42]

9. Seattle was one of five cities that the DOT was experimenting with 'Congestion Pricing'

or in other words, putting tolls on roads to discourage useage. NYC was one as well but the project was rejected by the NY statehouse.

In 2001, there were 48 new bus and rail projects that were on track for federal funding, in 2007, only 17. The DOT had $850 million available as a result in the backing off on the earmark process of funding priorities by Congress and made the decision to give the money to five cities, but only if they spent it on testing the theory of 'congestion pricing'. (One of those cases of unintended consequences of good intentions thing)

This at a time when gas prices are at a historic high and expanding public transportation systems would take pressure off of the demand side on gas useage.

Washington Post story: 'Letting the Market Drive Transportation'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/16/AR2008031603085_pf.html

From an article in Popular Mechanics - ridership is up on public transportation 25% since 1995. Increase ridership another 33% would save 45 million barrels of oil a year.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/earth/4254875.html?page=2