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"If you invest in something and provide a good product, people will use
it," said Chris Boylan, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority, which operates the New York City subway and bus system as well
as Long Island Bus and two commuter railroads. The MTA has spent $34
billion in improvements since 1982, he said. Daily trips number 7.2 million
today, compared with 5.1 million three years ago, Boylan said.
Heavy spending on transit is likely to continue. In the Washington area,
plans for transportation projects through 2025 call for spending $76
billion, of which $40 billion is dedicated to transit, said Ron Kirby, a
transportation planner with the Metropolitan Washington Council of
Governments.
A rollicking national economy also has boosted ridership. "People ride for
a purpose, either making money or spending money," said William Millar,
president of the American Public Transportation Association.
The economy has allowed fares to remain relatively flat while enabling
transit agencies to offer new service or extend existing service, he said.
Salt Lake City just opened its first rail system, Phoenix is adding Sunday
bus service, and Colorado voters have decided to extend Denver's light-rail
system.
Close to home, Metro opened two District stations last year, will extend
the Green Line to five stations in Prince George's next year and has
aggressive plans to extend rail to Largo and Dulles International Airport.
Many say the transit agencies have attracted riders by becoming more
flexible and creative. "The industry has gotten a lot smarter," said Bruce
Frame, spokesman for the Federal Transit Administration. In Baltimore,
after the transit agency rolled out a $3 transit pass for unlimited one-day
travel on trolleys and buses, ridership jumped, said Frame, who lives
there.
In Washington, Metro simplified its byzantine bus fare system and
eliminated transfer fees in June. Four months later, daily ridership had
jumped by more than 60,000 trips, or about 13 percent.
In Virginia, the VRE places a premium on customer service. It has free
parking that is constantly expanding, cafe cars and an e-mail service that
alerts riders of service problems or changes. VRE reimburses riders for
day-care fees if their trains are late and issues a free ticket to any
commuter whose train is delayed at least 30 minutes. It averages 9,000
daily passenger trips.
Several transit agencies have been offering up-to-date transit information
through Web sites or station signs. Metro has been working for years on
such information signs, but software problems have created lengthy delays.
A new trend in transit, called universal access, also is proving highly
popular, Millar said. Universal access gives passengers unlimited rides on
a transit system in exchange for a flat fee that is usually paid by a third
party--a university or housing complex or community, he said.
In State College, Pa., bus ridership shot up 250 percent last year after
Pennsylvania State University gave $1 million to the local transit agency
to get rid of 40-cent fares and offer unlimited, free travel on routes
connecting the campus with the downtown, said Hugh Mose, general manager of
the Centre Area Transportation Authority.
"This fall we won't have enough equipment," Mose said. The agency had
ordered 10 new buses and just bought six more. Even so, Mose expects to
come up short.
Although some say rising fuel prices may have shifted some riders from cars
to mass transit, several transit agencies reported ridership already was
going up last year when gasoline prices were still less than $1 a gallon.
Meanwhile, sprawl and traffic congestion are making automobile travel less
appealing, said Alan Kiepper, a transportation consultant who has run the
transit systems in Houston, Atlanta and New York. "Congestion is just
getting really, really bad, and people are sick of sitting in their cars
and getting nowhere," he said.
Mike Seymour, a 52-year-old public health analyst from Rockville, is one of
them. He stopped driving his Chevy van to work in Twinbrook two years ago
and started riding the Montgomery Ride-On bus. "My kids were getting up to
the age where I no longer had to play taxi driver after work, and I wanted
to give our cars a rest," Seymour said. "It's comfortable, and I like to be
able to sit and read the paper for 20 minutes."
As it celebrates ridership records, the transit industry wants to keep the
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