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Jun
7
Transit Systems Strained as Gas Prices Soar
Filed Under AVL Systems, Feature Stories, Municipal Transit, Transit Trends, University Transit
In June 2008, regular gasoline costs more than four dollars a gallon. That sounds bad, but it may be just the beginning. It could well spike to five dollars a gallon by July and six dollars within the next 12 months, according to experts such as T. Boone Pickens. Suddenly, diehard car drivers are becoming born-again transit riders.
As the price of gasoline surges throughout the United States, both public and university transit systems face good and bad news. The good news is that their ridership is increasing. The bad news is that it is costing them a lot more money to carry each of those riders.
This significant and unexpected growth in ridership almost certainly foreshadows a long-term trend. More and more experts point to the inevitability of high gas prices caused by the inability of world suppliers to satisfy world demand.
Transit executives, now more than ever, will need to find ways to optimize the efficiency of their operations to meet growing demand and to mitigate increasing costs.
“We are at a tipping point,” said Clarence W. Marsella, chief executive of the Denver Regional Transportation District, referring to gasoline prices. In a May 10, 2008 article in the New York Times he was referring to the 8% growth in ridership during the first three months of the year-in spite of a fare increase and a slowing economy. In Denver some routes have reached capacity. Marsella added, “I’d like to put more buses on the street. I can’t expand service as much as I’d like to.”
Similar increases are occurring in the San Francisco Bay Area, where BART or ridership is up 5%. The Times quotes Dorothy Dugger, Barth’s general manager, “The future of mass transit in this country has never been brighter.”
In South Florida the growth of a commuter rail system has been even more spectacular with 20% growth in March and April of 2008.
The growth in mass transit ridership, both at the University and municipal level, is gratifying. But it is also expensive and is balanced by pervasive reductions in tax revenues.
Improved Automation Systems Needed
These dramatic increases in ridership will require advanced technology solutions to get the most efficiency from every bus and rail line. AVL solutions from NextBus can provide significantly improved operational efficiencies and cost savings. Be sure to check out the latest news coming here on NextBusNews.com and sign up for our monthly newsletter which delivers news you can really use to improve your transit operations.
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