SEPTA Ridership Up 4%, Highest Volume Since 1989
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - SEPTA ridership is up and you can thank higher gas prices as well as a crush of young adults moving into Center City.
SEPTA riders in the fiscal year that ended June 30th took an extra 13 million trips over the previous year. That's a four-percent increase which puts the total number of trips in the year at 334 million -- the highest since 1989.
Spokesman Richard Maloney says this jump is at odds with the traditional pattern of ridership declines when unemployment is high.
"While we've had a tough employment climate in Philadelphia the past couple of years, our ridership continues to grow" Maloney said. "So we're going against the tide."
It's difficult to tell how big a role rising gas prices played in the ridership jump.
"It's hard to really specify how much of this is attributable to gasoline, obviously some of it," says Maloney.
In fact, most of the increase -- 12 million extra trips -- came in SEPTA's City Division, comprised of the buses, subways and trolleys. As a result, says Maloney, SEPTA believes demographics made a difference.
"We're seeing a substantial number of young people moving into the city and staying in the city. Center City growth has been very strong in recent years, and those people are using public transportation."
Meanwhile ridership on the Regional Rails was up one million, straining the system as delivery of new rail cars has been delayed.
"It has made it tough," said Maloney. "As many of our regional rail customers would attest, we've been really straining to keep our service going by the capacity of the railroad. We simply haven't had enough rail cars."
About 20 new "Silverliner" Regional Rail cars have been put into service so far, but delivery of the majority of the 120 new cars on order is at least a year behind the original schedule.
Reported by Mike Dunn, KYW Newsradio 1060
