As gas prices fall, mass transit use keeps growing in US

Expected fallback not seen

Wendy Natt, Jan 15, 09.

Transit ridership continued to rise nationwide in the third quarter of 2008, despite falling gas prices and growing unemployment, says a story in the Washington Post. Increases were seen across multiple modes of transit, including light rail (8.5%), buses (7.2%), commuter rail (6.3%), and subways (5.2%).

Transit officials and other industry experts have attributed record ridership levels that began in 2007 and continued into the first and second quarters of 2008 largely to gas price increases during that period. The third quarter increase is noteworthy, says the Washington Post article, because gas prices began falling during this quarter and unemployment rose, two factors that historically have been associated with decreases in transit use. Preliminary data for October and November indicate that ridership continued to grow, as gas prices fell even further.

Despite an increasing number of customers, many transit agencies are having to increase fares and cut services - rather than increasing their capacities to meet demand - due to increased operating costs, severe budget deficits, and falling sales and property tax revenues. METRO of Harris County, TX raised their base fare in November and announced that Park & Ride fares will increase 25-33%. David Wolff, board chair at METRO, said that fares had not been adjusted in 14 years and were long overdue, according to a METRO blog.

In order to bolster the industry and the economy, transportation officials are calling for increased government investment in proposed and pending transit projects that may have the potential to bring tens of thousands of new jobs into the economy.