Newly released figures from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) show transit ridership growing 4 percent nationwide in 2008 over 2007, with 10.7 billion trips taken on trains, light rail, buses and trolleys in 2008, the most since 1956.

The upward trend in ridership was spurred by high gasoline prices last spring and summer, but continued even as gas prices fell.  The downward spiraling economy and mounting job losses slowed that growth somewhat in the fourth quarter of 2008, but ridership was still up by 1.7 percent over the same period in 2007, and December ridership grew by more than 4 percent.

The ridership growth contrasts starkly with a 3.6 percent drop in miles driven in 2008 and may signal a fundamental shift in the way that Americans travel.  The dramatic drops in VMT that began in the spring of 2008 as Americans reeled from higher gas prices gave way in the fall and early winter to recession-induced declines.

It seems Americans have discovered that transit can offer an affordable alternative to driving and are now looking to transit to help balance their personal budgets. APTA reports that transit use can save the average family as much as $8,000 a year over driving.

The longer-term trend in transit ridership and driving growth supports new findings from the EPA which show significant residential growth in the core urban areas of many major metro areas.  Transit use is up 38 percent since 1995, while driving has grown by only 21 percent over the same period.

It’s likely that transit use will plateau or fall as the recession continues, but it will be interesting to see whether it falls as fast as driving. In our region, NYC subway and bus ridership increased only 0.4 percent in the last quarter of 2008 (compared to the same period in 2007), but traffic volume on the MTA’s bridges and tunnels fell by 4 percent.

Image: TSTC graphic using APTA and USDOT data.