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Mass Transit Popularity Surges in U.S.
By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday , April 30, 2000 ; A01
From Gainesville to Grosvenor to Grand Central station, the number of
people crowding onto public transportation is the largest in 40 years. The
surge has packed trains and buses, crammed park-and-ride lots and suggests
that increasingly, Americans are leaving the driving to someone else.
Last year, 9 billion trips were taken on mass transit in the United States,
according to new figures released by the American Public Transportation
Association. The last time ridership was that high, Dwight D. Eisenhower
was in the White House.
More significant, transit advocates say, is that ridership is rising at a
rate faster than automobile use. Ridership rose 4.5 percent in 1999
compared with 1998, while motor vehicle travel rose 2 percent, according to
the transit association.
The shift is putting a stress on some transit providers, such as the
Washington area's Metro system, as passengers flood through turnstiles and
squeeze onto standing-room-only buses. "The Red and Orange lines are close
to capacity now," said Metro General Manager Richard A. White, whose agency
is studying its capacity and trying to determine when it will reach its
limits. "Parking in most of our lots is tight. We don't know how many more
passengers we can absorb before we reach capacity." The agency already has
ordered 100 more rail cars and 100 more buses.
Highway advocates noted that although transit ridership is increasing, the
vast majority of Americans still rely on the automobile for trips to work
and play.
"Let's not break out the champagne here," William D. Fay, president of the
American Highway Users Alliance, said in response to some transit
officials' giddiness over the new numbers. "Highway growth is the real
success. By real numbers, far more people are driving cars than taking
transit."
In the last year, transit gains have been visible from Bowling Green, Ky.,
where bus ridership increased 31 percent, to New York City, where ridership
on buses, commuter trains and the nation's largest subway system jumped 7
percent.
In the Washington area, the national trend is seen in packed Metro subway
cars and parking lots, Prince George's County's popular Call-A-Bus program
and the way the Virginia Railway Express is drawing enough new passengers
each month to fill an additional train car. VRE is the second
fastest-growing commuter railroad in the nation after the one in Dallas.
At Metro, where 13 of the top 20 ridership days in its 25-year history have
occurred since March 1, White said the trend is signaling a subtle shift in
American behavior.
"Transit dominated this country prior to World War II," White said. "After
the war, that changed with the creation of the interstate system and
tremendous exurban and suburban development. But now that congestion and
sprawl are becoming front-burner issues, there's a change in people's
attitudes and patterns.
"This is a harbinger of good times."
Public transit use peaked in 1946, when Americans took 23.4 billion trips
on trains, buses and trolleys, said Donna Aggazio, spokeswoman for the
American Public Transportation Association. By 1960, that figure had
dropped to 9.3 billion, and it declined further as roads and car culture
gripped the nation. In 1972, transit ridership hit rock bottom at 6.5
billion trips. Since then, it seesawed until 1995, when it began steadily
climbing.
Transit operators and analysts say increases in mass transit ridership are
driven by several factors, including heavy public spending on transit, a
strong economy, stable fares, innovation among transit systems and growing
congestion on roads and highways.
The federal government began heavily investing in mass transit about 10
years ago, sending billions of dollars to communities across the country to
launch ferry boats, build tracks and buy trains and trolleys, including
special vehicles for the disabled. Meanwhile, many states increased transit
funding.
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