Across the country, mass transit ridership is higher than it’s been in half a century, and New York City is leading the way. According a report from the American Public Transit Association, Americans took 10.7 billion trips on subways, buses, streetcars, and commuter trains in 2o13 — 37.2 percent higher than in 1995.
“As the highest annual ridership number since 1956, Americans in growing numbers want to have more public transit services in their communities,” said Peter Varga, chair of the APTA. “Public transportation systems nationwide – in small, medium, and large communities – saw ridership increases. Some reported all-time high ridership numbers.”
New York bears by far the biggest public transit weight of any American city, accounting for a third of all public transit trips nationwide. According to Gene Russianoff of the transit advocacy group Straphangers Campaign, the increased ridership is thanks in part to a generational shift. “The Millennials, unlike the baby boomers, are not programed to want to move to the suburbs and spend their life picking up people in the family car,” he told Metro.
(Photo: @The All Nite Images)
