Ridership on public transportation grew 2.2 percent nationally during the third quarter compared to the same quarter of 2018, according to an American Public Transportation Association (APTA) report.
A total of 2.5 billion trips were taken – 54 million more trips taken than last year — marking the second consecutive quarter of increases. It also is the first time since 2014 when there were increases during the third and fourth quarters.
“Public transportation organizations are consistently improving their services to be more customer-focused to meet the needs of today’s riders,” Paul P. Skoutelas, APTA president and CEO, said. “The landscape of American transportation is changing; the public transportation industry continues to implement technological innovations and improved access that benefits communities and is a critical part of the transportation network.”
Ridership for bus systems increased 0.59 percent, commuter-rail systems grew 4.38 percent, and heavy rail spiked 5.46 percent.
The largest increases in ridership were the Denver Regional Transportation District for commuter rail, spiking 35.1 percent; Charlotte Area Transit in North Carolina for light rail, increasing 12.74 percent; Sunrail commuter rail in Florida, growing 18.26 percent; Capital Metro in Texas for bus, growing 7.97 percent; and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority for heavy rail, increasing 7.60 percent.