During the third quarter of 2018, 2.5 billion trips were made on U.S. public transportation, according to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), a 1.75 percent decrease from the third quarter of 2017.
“Public transit systems are committed to providing safe and reliable service to the millions of people who depend on public transportation,” APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas said. “In order to increase mobility options, public transit systems are increasing frequency, improving routing, experimenting with fare changes, and engaging in partnerships to offer the best service possible to meet customers’ needs.”
Nationwide, bus ridership fell 1.9 percent, although the largest bus agencies did see increases. Houston’s ridership grew the most at 9.2 percent. Communities with populations less than 100,000 also saw increases, growing 1.74 percent nationwide.
Commuter rail ridership was nearly flat at 0.7 percent with only 18 out of 31 public transit systems experiencing growth. Orlando saw the most growth at 70 percent.
Subways and elevated trains saw ridership fall nationally by 2.4 percent although a few cities saw increases.
Modern streetcar, trolley and heritage trolley ridership decreased nationally by 3.6 percent. Eight out of 27 transit systems did see increases with the largest being Charlotte, NC at 55.3 percent.