Transit Ridership Up 2.2% in 3rd Quarter

During the third quarter of 2019 ridership of U.S. public transit agencies was up 2.2 percent when compared with the same period of 2019.

The American Public Transportation Association said there was a 5.46 percent increase in ridership of heavy rail systems and a 4.38 percent gain on commuter-rail systems.

Riders took 2.5 billion trips during the quarter, which was the second consecutive quarter to post an increase.

APTA said the growth in ridership amounted to 54 million more trips in the third quarter of 2019 versus the third quarter of 2018.

Public Transit Ridership Fell 2.9% in 2017

Public transportation ridership fell in the United States last year by 2.9 percent to 10.1 billion trips compared with 2016 figures the American Public Transportation Association said.

Heavy rail ridership fell 2 percent to 3.8 billion trips while light- and commuter-rail ridership held steady.

There were 497 million commuter rail trips last year and 548 million light rail trips, marking 0.19 percent and 0.83 percent decreases, respectively.

Ridership on light-rail lines increased at 11 of the 29 transit systems. Bus ridership nationally fell 4.3 percent to nearly 5 billion trips.

APTA said there are four broad factors that adversely affected public transit ridership, including declines in time competitiveness, declines in cost competitiveness, a drop in rider loyalty and other external factors beyond transit agencies’ control.

“While we are in a time of great change, in part due to technological innovations, public transit remains a critical part of any community’s transportation network,” said APTA President and CEO Paul Skoutelas. “Public transportation organizations are revamping their services and experimenting with pilot projects to be more time and cost competitive, and more customer focused to meet the needs of today’s riders and the growing population.”

Bus Public Transit Ridership Declining

Ridership of public transportation bus systems in the United State is on a steady decline across the country.

U.S. Department of Transportation figures shows that during the second quarter of 2017 city bus ridership fell 13 percent when compared with the same period in 2007.

The data show that 3.8 million people took the bus, which was the most popular form of public transportation. Many riders are low-income workers.

Declining ridership has meant that many transit agencies have increased fares and reduced service. In many cities, transit agencies are operating fewer bus routes.

Among the factors depressing bus ridership are the rise of Uber and Lyft, low gasoline prices, and younger adults moving to city centers within walking or biking distance of work.

Ridership of the nation’s subway systems has increased by 12 percent over the past decade. Intercity bus companies showed a 22 percent increase in trips between 2010 and 2015, according to the DOT data.

Cavs Victory Parade and Rally Help Greater Cleveland RTA Set Single Day Ridership Record

Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority reported that it carried a record 500,000 people last Wednesday, most of whom were bound for the victory parade and rally honoring the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers.

Officials estimated that 1.3 million people were on hand for the festivities.

The previous single-day ridership record for RTA was 225,000 set on a St. Patrick’s Day that fell on a Saturday.

RTA offered a $5 all-day pass on the day of the Cavs victory parade and most riders bought one.

RTA CEO Joe Calabrese said the agency took in an estimated $1.5 million on Wednesday.

That is enough to cover the cost of RTA operations for about two days, he said, but it doesn’t factor in the costs of running extra service Wednesday for the parade.

“I think a day like that will certainly help RTA. It won’t hurt RTA,” Calabrese said. “It’s not something we could do every day because we just don’t have the people to make that happen every day.”

Calabrese said the ridership on Wednesday was about 300,000 more than it would be on a busy day such as a home game for the Cleveland Browns.

He said many of those who rode were riding RTA for the first time.

The horde of passengers caused major service delays and forced RTA to open interim bus terminals and add buses to its blue and green lines.

RTA riders also filled all of the parking lots at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, which is the western terminus of the Red Line.

Airport officials said the lots had filled by 10 a.m. Although that didn’t lead to any flight delays, it did create problems for those wanting to take a flight out of town and park at the airport.

News reports indicated that some flights were delayed because flight crews were late in getting to the airport due to the traffic downtown where some airlines house their crews between flights.

The airport parking lots did not reopen until after 6 p.m. when Cavs revelers began returning to the airport and leaving.

Light Rail Ridership up 3% in 1st Quarter

The American Public Transportation Association said light rail ridership in the United States increased by 3 percent in the first quarter of 2016 compared with the same period in 2015.

Thirteen of the 29 light-rail systems in the country posted ridership gains.

Commuter-rail ridership rose 2.7 percent with 16 of 29 systems reporting increases.

Ridership on subways and elevated trains was up 2.5 percent.

The trade association said there were 2.6 billion trips made on all forms of public transportation, which was a 0.4 percent increase over the first quarter of 2015.

APTA said the rising patronage occurred during a time when gasoline prices remained low, noting that lower gas prices usually result in small dips in public transportation ridership.

1 in 10 Ride Public Transportation Regularly

One in 10 Americans use public transportation either daily or weekly, which includes bus, train or subway rides.

The findings were contained in a report issued by the Pew Research Center.

The report found that the 25 percent of those living in the Northeast used public transportation, the largest concentration of transit users.

Transit riders were more likely to live in cities (21 percent) and than suburbs (6 percent) or rural areas (3 percent).

Those who are lower-income, black or Hispanic, immigrants or under the age of 50 are more likely to use public transportation on a regular basis.

Rail Transit Ridership Rose Slightly in 2015

Public transportation ridership in the United States fell 1.3 percent last year, but rail ridership posted slight increases.

The American Public Transportation Association said that during 2015 light-rail ridership rose 0.4 percent while heavy-rail ridership increased 0.2 percent.

APTA said 12 out of 28 public transit agencies reported increases in light-rail ridership while 10 of the 15 heavy-rail system had increased ridership.

Helping lead the way in heavy-rail ridership was Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, whose heavy-rail ridership rose 3.8 percent.

However, RTA’s light-rail ridership fell by 6.1 percent in 2015 when compared with 2014’s performance.

Light-rail ridership in Buffalo, New York, rose 21.4 percent compared with 2014.

Nationally, commuter-rail ridership was flat in comparison with 2014. Ridership in 2015 across all modes of public transit declined to 10.6 billion trips compared with the record of 10.8 billion trips recorded in 2014

In a news release, APTA attributed the ridership decline to lower gas prices, saying that on average every 10 percent drop in gas prices leads to a 1.8 percent decrease in public transportation use.

The trade group also said that increased fares may have been a factor in the decline as well.

Fares increased 4.8 percent in 2015 to an average of $1.96 per trip compared with the national average of $1.87 in 2014.

The APTA report said the Cleveland RTA’s heavy-rail ridership in 2015 was an estimated 6.4 million compared with 6.2 million in 2014.

Light-rail ridership was an estimated 2.6 million compared with 2.7 million in 2014.

Rail Public Transportation Reported Up

Rail public transportation ridership during the first nine months of 2015 was up slightly when compared with the same period of 2014, the American Public Transportation Association has reported.

However, the total number of public transportation trips fell 1.2 percent when 2015 ridership was compared with 2014.

APTA said that nearly 8 billion trips were using all modes of U.S. public transportation during the study period of 2015, which represented 95.6 million fewer trips when compared with 2014.

The trade association attributed the decline to falling gas prices that may have led some people to return to driving.

Heavy-rail ridership inched up 0.3 percent, with 11 of 15 systems reporting increases. Cities that reported increased heavy-rail ridership included Cleveland (3.7 percent), San Francisco (3 percent), Philadelphia (1 percent), and Atlanta (0.8 percent).

Light-rail ridership rose 0.3 percent during 2015’s first three quarters, with eight of 27 systems logging increases.

Three cities experienced double-digit increases in this category: Minneapolis (59.4 percent); Buffalo, New York, (25.6 percent); and Houston (19.5 percent).

Overall, ridership on commuter railroads climbed 0.2 percent from January through September 2015.

Public Transportation Ridership Slips 0.9%

Ridership on public transportation slipped by 0.9 percent during the first six months of 2015 compared with the same period last year the American Public Transportation Association reported.

APTA said that there were almost 5.3 billion trips taken on all public transit modes, representing 50 million fewer trips when compared with the first half of 2014.

However, heavy-rail ridership rose 0.5 percent during the period. Nine of the nation’s 15 heavy-rail systems saw increasing patronage.

Cities logging rail ridership increases included San Francisco, up 4.3 percent; Atlanta, up 3.1 percent; and Jersey City, N.J., up 2.1 percent.

Commuter-rail ridership rose 0.3 percent during the period, with 16 of 28 systems logging increases.

Commuter-rail ridership in Orlando, Florida, skyrocketed by 208.7 percent due to the launch of SunRail service in May 2014.

Ridership on commuter-rail also increased 14.5 percent in Seattle and 11.3 percent in Anchorage.

Light-rail ridership slipped 0.4 percent although light-rail trains in Minneapolis experienced a 113.6 percent increase due to a line that opened in June 2014.

“With a significant drop in gas prices, some people may have returned to driving, but still, most people continued their trips on public transportation,” said APTA President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Melaniphy, noting that the average price of gas for the first six months of 2015 fell 29 percent.

This past Tuesday 10 of 14 local and statewide public transit-related ballot issues were approved by voters.

Six of those initiatives will provide additional revenue to public transportation systems through a new sales tax in the following communities and counties: Fraser, Colorado; Winter Park, Colorado; Snohomish County, Washington; Davis County, Utah; Weber County, Utah; and Toole County, Utah.

Voters also increased property taxes for public transportation in three communities: Seattle; Scio Township, Michigan; and Delta County, Michigan.

Maine voters passed a statewide multimodal bond initiative, which include public transportation funding.

Public Transit Use Rose to 58-Year High in 2014

The 10.8 billion trips taken on public transit in 2014 was the highest ridership level in 58 years, the American Public Transportation Association said on Monday. The figures included ridership on rail systems.

“Some public transit systems experienced all-time record high ridership last year,” said APTA Chair Phillip Washington. “This record ridership didn’t just happen in large cities. It also happened in small and medium size communities.”

APTA said that the gains came despite a decline of the price of gasoline of 42.9 cents in the fourth quarter.

“Despite the steep decline in gas prices at the end of last year, public transit ridership increased. This shows that once people start riding public transit, they discover that there are additional benefits besides saving money,” said APTA President and CEO Michael Melaniphy.

“People are changing their travel behavior and want more travel options,” Melaniphy said. “In the past people had a binary choice. You either took public transit, most likely a bus, or you drove a car. Now there are multiple options with subways, light rail, streetcars, commuter trains, buses, ferries, cars, and shared use vehicles.”

APTA said that from 1995 to 2014, public transit ridership increased by 39 percent, almost double the population growth, which was up 21 percent. The estimated growth of vehicle miles traveled was 25 percent.

Light rail (modern light rail, streetcars, trolleys, and heritage trolleys) ridership increased 3.6 percent in 2014, with 16 out of 28 public transit systems reporting increases.

Heavy rail (subways and elevated trains) ridership increased by 3.3 percent with eight out of 15 public transit systems reported increases.

Overall regional rail (termed by APTA as “commuter rail”) ridership rose 2.9 percent in 2014, as 22 out of 28 public transit systems recorded gains.

Bus ridership decreased nationally by 1.1 percent. However, in small and medium size population groups, bus ridership saw percentage increases of 2.0 and 0.5, respectively.

Demand (paratransit) ridership increased in 2014 by 0.2 percent while trolleybus ridership declined by 2.8 percent.