Bus ridership is increasing throughout the Triangle, thanks in large part to rising gas prices. January ridership on Triangle Transit was up 17.7 percent from last year. Brad Schulz at Triangle Transit says gas prices are just one reason people are choosing the bus.
"The gas prices do have something to do with it. I also think that more and more people are looking at ways to maximize their budget. Even when gas is three dollars a gallon we have seen our ridership continue to rise and even after gas prices fell back down, we didn’t go back to pre-four dollar levels in our ridership."
Shulz says recent outreach efforts and increased availability have encouraged bus use as well.