ATLANTA,
Georgia
(CNN) --
U.S. cities
are racing
to cope with
ever-increasing
demand on
public
transportation
as gas
prices
remain at
record
levels.
High gas prices in recent months have had a considerable impact on commuters using public transportation, statistics show.
Even
regions that
have
traditionally
resisted
giving up
cars and
have limited
access to
mass transit
are
reporting a
surge in
public
transportation
use.
From
trains and
trolleys to
subways and
buses, the
growth
encompasses
all modes of
travel,
according to
the American
Public
Transportation
Association,
a Washington
D.C.-based
industry
group.
Cities
are using a
variety of
measures to
meet that
demand,
according to
an informal
APTA survey
of some
transit
systems.
For
example, the
Massachusetts
Bay
Transportation
Authority,
which is
currently
operating at
capacity
during peak
periods,
ordered more
subway cars,
buses and
coaches for
its
commuter
rail.
In North
Carolina,
the
Charlotte
Area Transit
System has
increased
the
frequency of
light rail
service on
the
weekends,
ordered new
buses and is
taking a
look at
low-performing
routes to
cut down on
costs.
And the
Southeastern
Pennsylvania
Transportation
Authority,
which serves
Philadelphia
and has seen
about 20,000
new daily
customers
since last
July, has
ordered 400
new hybrid
buses and
120 new rail
cars.
Other
measures
being used
or
considered
by transit
systems
include
changing
schedules to
increase
frequency of
buses and
trains,
creating
bus-only
lanes and
taking out
seats on
trains to
make more
room for
commuters.
'The
paradox of
public
transportation'
While the
rise in
ridership
has been a
relatively
easy
adjustment
for some
systems,
others are
facing
difficulties
in meeting
operating
costs, which
hampers
their
ability to
ramp up
service or
maintain
normal
levels.
Cal
Marsella,
the head of
Denver,
Colorado's
transit
system,
calls it the
"paradox of
public
transportation."
Denver's
system, like
many U.S.
cities, is
partly
funded by
revenues
from sales
taxes. As
consumers
spend less
because of
high
fuel costs
and a sour
economy, the
city earns
less
revenue.
Consequently,
funding for
the transit
system is
decreasing
just when
their
operating
costs are
higher than
ever before.
"Just
when our
demand is
highest, our
ability to
provide is
being
undermined
by the whole
crunch,"
Marsella
said. "The
last thing
we want to
do is
curtail
service but
there is not
a lot you
can do when
revenues are
down and
fuel prices
are up."
The
Denver
Regional
Transit
District,
however, saw
the high
prices
coming and
was able to
lock in the
price of
diesel fuel
earlier this
year at
$3.20 a
gallon -- a
price far
cheaper than
what the
market is
right now.
That
contract
expires at
the end of
this year.
See a map of
gas prices
across the
country »
Marsella
is
pessimistic
prices will
drop much by
the end of
the year.
"I'm
budgeting
next year
for $4.55 a
gallon," he
said.
"Everybody
is hurting,
and I have
real
concerns
about our
ability to
sustain
services and
maintain
infrastructure."
A
sharp rise
in ridership
Americans
used
public
transportation
in record
numbers the
first three
months of
this year,
according to
the
APTA.
They took
2.6 billion
trips on
public
transportation
during that
period, an
increase of
85 million
more trips
compared
with the
same period
last year.
Meanwhile,
the number
behind the
wheel
dropped.
Americans
drove 1.4
billion
fewer
highway
miles from
April 2007
through
April 2008,
according to
figures
released by
the
Department
of
Transportation
in June. The
numbers
represented
the sixth
consecutive
monthly
drop.
In some
places, the
growing
embrace of
public
transportation
has been an
ongoing
trend for
the past few
years,
reflecting a
steady and
gradual
change in
commuter
behavior.
iReport:
Show us your
commute
For
instance,
ridership
increased
during a
period of
high fuel
prices from
2005 through
2006 in
Tulsa, but
did not
decline
after fuel
prices went
back down,
said Cynthia
Stabb of
Tulsa
Transit.
"Once
people get a
chance to
try public
transit and
they find it
works for
them, they
stick with
it," she
said via
e-mail.
Asked about
the current
high levels,
she
responded,
"We believe
the demand
is here to
stay."
Turning
point?
Some
observers
such as Dr.
Robert Lang,
an expert on
urban
affairs and
planning at
Virginia
Tech
University,
say the gas
crunch could
be a turning
point in
perceptions
of public
transportation
and how
cities plan
development.
Consumers
are
beginning to
believe the
high prices
are a result
of
structural
changes in
the global
economy, not
the result
of a single
event like
Hurricane
Katrina,
which
produced a
period of
high fuel
prices
earlier this
decade, Lang
said.
That
change in
perception
is providing
more
momentum for
some cities
that were
already
moving away
from
six-lane
highways and
suburbs
dozens of
miles apart,
to a series
of urban
centers
connected by
light rail
and other
mass transit
systems.
He cited
cities like
Denver and
Phoenix,
Arizona,
where
residents,
motivated by
traffic
frustrations
and the
promise of
economic
development,
approved
massive
transportation
projects
during the
past few
years
despite the
costs to
their
pocketbooks.
Marsella
said
Denver's
suburban and
exurban
commuters
were as
enthusiastic
as its urban
residents in
approving
the
multibillion
dollar
project in
2004.
"People want
to drive
their cars a
mile or two
to a
park-and-ride,
and then
take the
rail in on
the most
congested
part of the
trip," he
said.
Other
cities, like
Atlanta,
Georgia, for
instance,
are
struggling
to make the
pivot.
Often
cited in
discussions
about urban
sprawl,
Atlanta has
been
bedeviled
for years by
a lack of
consensus
among city
and regional
leaders on
the need to
expand its
transit
system.
"Some of
it is just
the fear of
change,"
Atlanta
Mayor
Shirley
Franklin
said.
"People
acted as if
transit was
a dirty word
and the only
thing that
would be
successful
in Atlanta
would be to
build more
roads, but
we can see
from the
congestion
that you
need an
integrated
transport
system."
Watch Mayor
Franklin
talk about
Atlanta's
transit
system »
"Unfortunately,
there's no
quick answer
for the
problems
that we
have."
Roads,
and the cars
on them,
will not
likely
disappear
anytime
soon, Lang
said. "We're
a settler
nation. And
people had
to get
moving to do
that," he
said.
"There's
something
deep within
the American
psyche about
the freedom
of
movement."
But the
current
environment
may lead to
a future
where hybrid
cars coexist
with denser
transit
systems.
"2007, for
all we know,
might be the
peak use of
gas in the
United
States," he
said