Dallas transit rail numbers up as gas prices rise

[Chuck]

Dallas Area Rapid Transit has grown slowly since it's creation in 1983, but picking up steam.

Dallas Morning News - March 13, 2008

Gas prices having a effect even in Big D -- Ed.

Are higher gas prices encouraging more North Texans to ride the rails? Perhaps. Dallas Area Rapid Transit reports that in January about 130,000 more riders used its light-rail trains than in January 2007, a jump that appears to mirror surging gasoline prices.

Is there a link? The DART surge amounts to about a 9 percent jump in light-rail ridership in a year. The average price for a gallon of gasoline in Dallas is $3.17, up from $2.41 a year ago, according to AAA.

National trend: On Monday, the American Public Transportation Association announced that Americans took some 10.3 billion trips on mass transit facilities in 2007 – the most since Dwight Eisenhower was president. Light-rail ridership, like all transit, began to fall after the interstate highway system was built. After reaching a low of 103 million riders in 1977, light-rail ridership began to climb again. In 2007, it was 431 million. (The busiest year for trains, trolleys and buses was in 1946, when Americans took 23.4 billion trips, the transportation association says.)....[Read More]

[atlaw4u]

That's great news. I drive a Honda Insight and am currently averaging 90+ mpg on my round trip commute into Dallas. However, I looked into taking the bus thinking it might be more environmentally friendly even though it would probably be more expensive.

I have to say it was a bit frustrating how difficult it is to use DART unless you live and work in the perfect geographical locations. For example, I reside 16 miles from my office and looked into the possibilty of using public transit as there is a bus stop within walking distance from my office. Unfortunately, I would have to drive a short distance from my home to catch a bus and then have to deal with multiple bus changes with some wait times up to 20 minutes resulting in a commute of over 2 hours.

I hope the increased ridership will encourage more publice transit expansion in the DFW metroplex.

[lamebums]

I'll just have to drop this one in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d03gH_cFfI

[xcel]

Hi Auston:

___That was a neat vid!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

[bomber991]

I hate how the express busses here arrive downtown at x:15 after the hour and leave downtown at X:45 after the hour. WTF! Would be better if they arrive downtown 15 minutes before the hour and left downtown 15 minutes after the hour. Don't most people start and stop their jobs at 8 or 9? Not 8:15 or 9:15. Don't most people get off work at 4 or 5? Not 4:45 or 5:45.