Pittsburgh, PA - Sky high gasoline prices are apparently encouraging Allegheny County residents to leave their cars at home and turn to cost-efficient public transportation instead, as Port Authority ridership increased system-wide in July.
Average weekday ridership across all modes for July 2008 increased more than six percent over July 2007. Ridership increases by mode on an average weekday include: bus up 4.75%; light rail up 17.27%; Monongahela Incline up 11%; and ACCESS ridership up 4.14%. On an average weekday in July, Port Authority carried more than 233,500 riders on its bus, rail, incline and ACCESS services as compared to average weekday ridership of 220,133 in July of 2007. In total, Port Authority provided nearly 6 million transit rides last month—almost 500,000 more riders than in July 2007.