NYT Article

http://tinyurl.com/6zfss9

May 10, 2008
Gas Prices Send Surge of Riders to Mass Transit
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS

DENVER — With the price of gas approaching $4 a gallon, more commuters
are abandoning their cars and taking the train or bus instead.

Mass transit systems around the country are seeing standing-room-only
crowds on bus lines where seats were once easy to come by. Parking lots
at many bus and light rail stations are suddenly overflowing, with
commuters in some towns risking a ticket or tow by parking on nearby
grassy areas and in vacant lots.

“In almost every transit system I talk to, we’re seeing very high rates
of growth the last few months,” said William W. Millar, president of the
American Public Transportation Association.

“It’s very clear that a significant portion of the increase in transit
use is directly caused by people who are looking for alternatives to
paying $3.50 a gallon for gas.”

Some cities with long-established public transit systems, like New York
and Boston, have seen increases in ridership of 5 percent or more so far
this year. But the biggest surges — of 10 to 15 percent or more over last
year — are occurring in many metropolitan areas in the South and West
where the driving culture is strongest and bus and rail lines are more
limited.

Here in Denver, for example, ridership was up 8 percent in the first
three months of the year compared with last year, despite a fare increase
in January and a slowing economy, which usually means fewer commuters.
Several routes on the system have reached capacity, particularly at rush
hour, for the first time.

(snip)

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Watch for highway murder rates to fall also as people drive less and
drive slower.