Ride The Ride

When gas prices shot up over $4 a gallon this summer, people turned to mass transit out of necessity. The conventional wisdom was that the plummeting of prices over the last few months would lead to a return to the same old habits. That may be in the future, but the latest numbers show that no, people actually LIKED riding the train or the bus or the subway, and they've kept at it.

Americans rode subways, buses and commuter railroads in record numbers in the third quarter of this year, even as gas prices dropped and unemployment rose. The 6.5 percent jump in transit ridership over the same period last year marks the largest quarterly increase in public transportation ridership in 25 years, according to a survey to be released today by the American Public Transportation Association.

Ridership growth began hitting record levels last year and continued through the first and second quarters of this year, spurred in large part by gasoline prices that topped $4 a gallon in July, the industry group said. But the third-quarter increase is notable, it said, because gas prices began falling and unemployment rose, trends that tend to drive ridership down.

Part of this is the increased urbanization of America, as more and more people move into metro areas. Part of it is the increased recognition of carbon footprints and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But a big part of it is that riding mass transit can improve quality of life. I took the bus quite a bit this summer, and I read more, I walked more to the bus station, and I generally felt a bit more productive. My workplace has changed and is a little further off the bus line, but I took it just last Friday.

The combination of increased demand for transit and the need for government to be the spender of last resort creates a unique moment, if done right, to really make major investments that would change the lifestyle of Americans in positive ways. So many suburbs are built on streetcar lines that have long since been dismantled, it would be easy, in theory, to resuscitate them. And we can build the light rail and high-speed rail corridors that have made Europe much easier to get around than this country. Perversely, however, state and local governments are shedding so much revenue right now that they may face cutting back on transportation services. It is essential that the Obama Administration makes a particular focus on backstopping state transit systems with budget problems. It's a tangible benefit to communities to bolster the transportation sector. And people want it.