www.greencarcongress.com/2008/03/us-use-of-publi.html
according to data released by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). Public transportation use is up 32% since 1995, a figure that is more than double the growth rate of the population (15%) and up substantially over the growth rate for the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) on US highways (24%) for that same period. Light rail (modern streetcars, trolleys, and heritage trolleys) had the highest percentage of ridership increase among all modes, with a 61% increase in 2007. Commuter rail posted the second largest ridership increase at 55%. Bus service saw an increase of 10%, but in communities with a population of less than 100,000, bus services saw an increase of 64% in 2007. In 2004, the latest year for which the data is available, all modes of public transit accounted for 49 billion passenger miles; total vehicle miles travelled in the US is around 3 trillion per year.
US Use of Public Transportation Highest in 50 Years: Comments Great news. Public transportation is a great service that is typically overlooked. Without it congestion would limit the effectiveness of urban centers to produce profit and in urbanized settings it is one of the most cost effective way to get around. how much of the increase is from more use of existing transit, and how much of the increase is from newly built transit? Of course, it's not that simple if a person uses new and pre-existing transit in the same trip, but it's still worth thinking about. Are transit systems gaining a higher density of ridership, or are their gains from expanding in to "virgin" territory? The answer to this question might help decide just where are the best place to put federal transit dollars.
stomv | Mar 12, 2008 8:50:15 AM Also it seems they only look at absolute numbers... so what is the relative percentage of adults using Public Transport (as a percentage of the adult population versus the last 50 years).
Patrick | Mar 12, 2008 9:41:31 AM @stomv I have lived in st louis and currently live in denver. I can say that st louis hasn't had a light rail for very long and neither has denver. I don't remember exactly when the "metro-link" in stl was completed but it was sometime around '95 and i think the first phase of the light rail here in denver was completed around that same time too. denver has plans (due to a recent vote) to add over 100 more miles of light rail over the next 10-15yrs. Posted by: sean | Mar 12, 2008 1:30:21 PM Patrick the increase from 2007 over 2006 was 21%. I don't know the % population increase over the same period but I think it's unlikely that the US, as a developed country, would have a population increase of more than 2% in a year, so it seems growth in public transport trips is outstripping population growth. It would be interesting this figure to compare with the growth in trips by car over the same period. The percentage using public transport is not that useful because people taking the train once a year get lumped in with those using PT for all trips. I think public transport trips as a percentage of all motorised trips is more useful. Cities that have just completed building programs are obviously going to have massive initial year on year increases. It's encouraging that in the heartland of the car there are so many new public transport systems being constructed.
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