Transit Ridership in 2006

March 12, 2007

Americans Take More Than 10 Billion Trips on Public Transportation for the First Time in Almost Fifty Years

Tulsa, OK - If you thought you were seeing more riders during your daily public transit trip, it's not your imagination.  Tulsa Transit announced today Americans took 10.1 billion trips on public transportation nationwide in 2006 - the most in 49 years.  Over the last decade, public transportation's growth rate outpaced the growth rate of the population and the growth rate of vehicle miles traveled on our nation's highways. 
 
Tulsa Transit's bus ridership rose 17% on local bus routes and 43% on park-and-ride bus service last year.
 
"Reaching this milestone is a result of the quality of service we provide in helping people get to destinations important to them," said Tulsa Transit spokesperson Cynthia Staab.  "In addition, many riders realize the benefits of saving money from rising fuel costs and avoiding congestion.  They also like knowing that their transportation choice is contributing to help reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and global warming." 

Across the U.S., public transit use is up 30 percent since 1995.  That is more than double the growth rate of the population (12 percent) and higher than the growth rate for the vehicle miles traveled on our roads (24 percent) during that same period.  In 2006, public transit ridership grew 2.9 percent over 2005.  To put the 10.1 billion public transportation trips in perspective, transit trips outnumber domestic airline trips by 15 to one.   

"Public transportation is a proven way to meet our national, regional and local transportation goals," said Staab.  "As Congress and our state and local elected officials look to find ways to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil, we call on them to increase investment and include incentives to encourage further increases in transit ridership."