Transit Ridership Up

There's an interesting article at the National Review about transit ridership in the 00's. They note something very important, which hasn't gotten enough notice: between 2000 and 2008, transit ridership went up nationwide for the first time in 40 years. They go on to note that more than half of this increase is due to people taking buses.

The bad news for most cities is that the recession, along with decisions to cut service and increases in rider fees, contributed to a decrease in ridership of four percent nationwide between '09 and this year.

But one metro area stood out. From the article: "of the largest systems, only Minneapolis’ Metro Transit saw any increase (0.2 percent)."

Way to go Metro Transit! (Though it should be noted that this increase was despite a fare hike and some reductions to service.) It just goes to strengthen my view that people in the Twin Cities metro are looking for more alternatives to single occupancy automobiles.