Boosted by the popularity of light rail, public transportation provided some 9.7 billion trips in the U.S. during 2005, the American Public Transportation Association recently announced.
“The ridership growth over the past 10 years demonstrates that Americans want transportation choices and will often leave their cars behind when quality public-transit services are available,” said APTA President William Millar, who noted that public transportation use has increased more over the past 10 years—by 25.1%—than highway vehicle miles traveled increased during the same period, 22.5%.