“Transit advocates will be quick to point out that transit ridership has grown faster than driving. But actually, it depends entirely on which years you pick. Preliminary information suggests that urban driving grew faster than transit in 2014. Since 2004, transit grew faster than driving in about half the years, and overall transit ridership grew by 12 percent while miles of urban driving grew by only 6 percent.”
“If you go back much before 2004, however, the view of transit is much more bleak. Since 1994, transit grew by 35 percent while urban driving grew by 39 percent. Since 1984, transit grew by 21 percent while urban driving grew by more than 100 percent. Go back to 1974, and transit grew by 55 percent while urban driving grew by 190 percent. Overall, since 1970, transit grew faster than driving in about one out of three years. Even if transit were growing faster than driving in every year, driving has such a head start that it would take transit many decades if not centuries to catch up.”
An object lesson for the NH choo-choo trainers.
(H/T: The Anti-Planner)
