Maybe Transit Isn't Surging After All

When the 2013 transit ridership numbers were reported as a "record" earlier this month — here, there, and everywhere — a friend who seldom remarks on public transportation wrote me confused. He found it odd that the American Public Transportation Association was celebrating 10.65 billion transit rides as the most since 1956. Shouldn't it be upset that over a period when the country added roughly 150 million people, transit ridership went up zero percent?

The point was well taken. It demanded some qualification: any transit trends since the mid-20th century must be understood in the context of policies that have favored driving and suburban development, in which case the recent figures, if nothing else, were heading in the desired direction. But, yeah, well taken.