Can worsening economy help spike transit??

[urbanactivist]

So I had a record set of bus routes this week...

For a Houston commute of 17.5 miles in rush-hour traffic, 50 minutes one way (including 1 transfer) isn't too bad! Amazingly enough the office has been noticing as well, and I've gotten two of my coworkers to try the transit system too!!

From my experience, METRO service is detecting an increase in ridership, and starting to improve service as a result. My guess is that the psychological impact of gas finally reaching the $3 mark has convinced more Houstonians to cut back and take advantage of the public transit. Also the expanded commuter routes to the very fringes of the metro (both Baytown and Katy/ Grand Parkway started within 3 months of each other) have proven to be immediate successes.

I'm thinking that the US' current economic slow-down is going to yield a few positive impacts for our metros. Any thoughts??

[stranger]

It's definitely a possibility. But, I think that, with the current lousy state of oil right now, we're going to a start to see a trend towards transit, slow economy or otherwise.

[M1EK]

Actually, oil/inflation from same is going to hurt transit almost as much as it hurts single-occupant drivers. The costs for running a bus are generally operator wages (subject to inflation) and diesel fuel (going nowhere but up - at a faster rate even than gasoline does).

The only transit modes positioned to really take advantage are the electrified ones. Adding one more passenger to a diesel bus already running a given route is free, of course, but once you hit the point where you need to run another bus, you're going to lose a lot of money doing so (at current fare structure).

[alexjon]

My bus is electric!