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The growth in ridership for U.S. public transportation agencies for the first quarter of 2012 was big news at the APTA Rail Conference in Dallas. APTA President & CEO Michael Melaniphy announced the 5 percent ridership increase—or nearly 2.7 billion trips—during the June 4 Opening General Session.
This quarter was the fifth in a row to report ridership growth, accounting for 125.7 million more trips than during the same quarter of 2011. All public transit modes saw increases, led by 6.7 percent for light rail and 5.5 percent for heavy rail.
Melaniphy credited high gasoline prices as one reason for the sizable ridership increase. “As we look for positive signs that the economy is recovering, it’s great to see that we are having record ridership at public transit systems throughout the country. In some regions of our nation, the local economy is rebounding and people are commuting to their new jobs by using public transportation,” he said, noting that nearly 60 percent of trips taken on public transit are for work commutes.
This big picture is drawn from numerous individual success stories in many U.S. metropolitan areas. Several public transit agencies reporting the highest first-quarter ridership in their history include Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, up 7.8 percent and the 15th consecutive month of growth; Charlotte (NC) Area Transit System, with ridership up 10.2 percent for the quarter; Lee County Transit in Fort Myers, FL, a 17 percent jump; San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, 21.8 million passenger trips in the quarter—1.7 percent above the previous record for the quarter, in 2009; and Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority in Tampa, FL, up 6 percent and reporting crowding for the first time on its buses. Intercity Transit in Olympia, WA, reported the highest ridership in its 31-year history.
In Indianapolis, IndyGo saw first-quarter ridership on its 30 bus routes jump 19.9 percent—or almost 2.5 million rides compared with 2.1 million in the first quarter of 2011—on the way to achieving its highest numbers in decades.
The agency suggested several reasons behind its ridership growth: a combination of unseasonably warm weather early in the year, rising gas prices, efficiency-focused service delivery, and the city hosting Super Bowl XVLI.
USA Today picked up on the good news from IndyGo, featuring the agency in a June 4 story that Melaniphy referenced during the APTA conference. National Public Radio also interviewed Melaniphy and IndyGo representatives for a story that was about to air as Passenger Transport went to press.
First Quarter Breakdown
Twenty-five of 27 U.S. light rail systems—including modern streetcars, trolleys, and heritage trolleys—reported ridership increases in the first quarter of 2012. The largest increases were in Memphis, TN (45.7 percent); Salt Lake City (34.1 percent); Seattle’s King County DOT (19.4 percent); Boston (12.6 percent); Cleveland (10.7 percent); Houston (10.3 percent); Seattle’s Sound Transit (10.3 percent); Los Angeles (9.9 percent); Sacramento (8.5 percent); and St. Louis (8.2 percent).
Among heavy rail systems, 14 out of 15 listed growth. Cleveland led the sector with 12.2 percent, followed by San Francisco (9.7 percent); Chicago (8.9 percent); Baltimore (7.8 percent); Boston (6.4 percent); Jersey City, NJ (6.1 percent); MTA New York City Transit (5.6 percent); Lindenwold, NJ (4.7 percent); MTA Staten Island Railway (4.5 percent); and Miami (4.2 percent).
Nationally, commuter rail ridership increased by 3.9 percent in the first three months of 2012, with 22 of 27 commuter rail systems reporting ridership increases. Five commuter rail systems in the following cities noted double-digit increases: Anchorage, AK (43.8 percent); Oceanside, CA (19.2 percent); San Carlos, CA (15.0 percent); Portland, OR (11.1 percent); and Seattle (10.8 percent).
Large bus systems reported an increase of 4.6 percent nationally. Leading the sector are St. Louis (15.6 percent); Dallas (11.9 percent); Arlington Heights, IL (11.1 percent); Boston (10.6 percent); Oakland, CA (10.5 percent); Fort Lauderdale, FL (8.7 percent); Newark (8.0 percent); San Antonio (8.0 percent); Washington, DC (7.9 percent). and Cleveland (7.8 percent).
Bus systems in urbanized areas with populations of two million or more showed ridership growth of 4.5 percent for the quarter. Growing at an even higher rate of 5.1 percent were bus systems in urbanized areas with populations of 500,000 to just under two million.
Demand response (paratransit) ridership increased by 7.0 percent and trolleybus ridership grew by 3.8 percent.
The complete report is available at the APTA website. |
