14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new report made available to the public by the American Public Transportation Association, folks in the United States have taken quite a liking to public transit over the past few decades.
Thus, specialists with the Association argue that, according to their investigations into the matter at hand, public transit reached a 57-year high in the United States back in 2013.
More precisely, it would appear that the number of people who opted for this means of transportation in said year exceeds the number of Americans who resorted to public transit each year since 1956 until present day.
Think Progress tells us that the American Public Transportation Association details in its report that, in 2013, roughly 10.7 billion of the United States' population resorted to subways, streetcars, buses, and other means of public transit to get around.
This means that 2013 was the eighth year in a row when the country's public transportation sector reported over 10 billion trips, the same source details.
Interestingly enough, the Association also found that, when compared to the year 1995, last year's public transit ridership was roughly 37.2% greater.
Besides, it was higher than one would have expected when factoring in population growth and the overall number of miles traveled by vehicle.
Although public transit ridership was documented to increase to a considerable extent in 2008, the fact remains that, at that time, gas prices in the country were fairly elevated.
Otherwise put, it was perfectly understandable why many preferred public transportation.
However, the 2013 increase in public transit ridership was documented despite fairly low gas prices.
Hence, in a recent interview, Michael Melaniphy with the Association wished to stress the fact that, “We’re seeing a fundamental shift in how people are moving about their communities.”
Specialists suspect that this increase in public transit ridership is due to the fact that, as the country's economy is recovering at least in some regions, employment rates are beginning to steadily up.
This means that an ever increasing number of people have to travel to work on a daily basis, and many of them seem to prefer public transit to other options.
“Now gas is averaging well under $4 [€2.88] a gallon, the economy is coming back and people are riding transit in record numbers,” the President of the American Public Transportation Association said in a statement.
Given the fact that this increase in public transit ridership goes hand in hand with a drop in the number of personal vehicles driven up and down the country's roads, it can be argued that having public transportation become more popular also yields noteworthy benefits in terms of reducing traffic-related environmental pollution.