According to the American Public Transportation Association, 10.7 billion trips were taken last year on public transportation, which represents a 1.1-percent growth and is the highest recorded total since the 50s.
Since 1995, transit ridership is up 37.2%, which outpaced the national population growth of 20.3%, says Michael Melaniphy, APTA president and CEO.
The nation's trains, buses and commuter rail carried more trips last year than in 2008, when gas prices soared to $4-$5 per gallon and many were forced out of their cars by necessity. That year saw the highest ridership totals since 1957.
"There's a fundamental shift going on," Melaniphy says. "This isn't a one-year blip. More and more people are deciding that public transportation is a good option."
For DART, there were 107.5 million passenger trips taken across all modes of transit in fiscal year 2013 (October 2012 through September 2013), according to the recently released
Year in Review.
Read more about the rise in public transportation at
USA Today.
Transit ridership reaches highest level since 1956 [USA Today]