Almost missed it:
"T ridership hits record high; More employment, high gas prices fuel a busy September" November 02, 2011|By Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff
Commuters who find it harder to get a seat on the subway, bus, and train are not imagining things: Last month, the MBTA appeared to set a modern record for ridership, with 1.35 million trips on an average weekday, according to figures released yesterday.
That eclipsed a previous high of 1.34 million in September 2008, before the economic downturn, and appeared to establish a record in the 47-year history of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority....
The MBTA attributed the latest record to simpler, if similar, reasons: Job numbers are up, so more people need to get to work. But gas prices remain high, so more of those commuters are opting for mass transit. The unemployment rate in Massachusetts last month approached a three-year low, while the cost of gas, though down from a spring high of $4 a gallon, remained well above 2009 and 2010 prices.
Related: Mass. unemployment rate drops, but state loses jobs
Must be using the T to file that unemployment claim.
The high-water mark for transit use came as the T contemplates a fare increase and service cuts that could take effect next summer, hoping to close a projected $161 million deficit for the coming year.
“I’m real concerned … because we could take what is obviously a very important and significant trend and pull the rug out from under it,’’ said Richard A. Dimino, president and chief executive of A Better City, a planning and advocacy organization that represents hospitals, universities, financial firms, and other major employers on transportation issues. “The T is the workhorse for the Massachusetts economy.’’
September is often the busiest month on the T, when college students flood Boston and employees return from summer vacations. Average weekday ridership in September exceeded the previous September by 4.3 percent. It was also the eighth straight month in which the T recorded growth compared with the year before....
For July through September, the first three months of the fiscal year, the MBTA collected $5.3 million more in fares than last year. That pales in comparison with the agency’s $6 billion debt burden and an annual deficit that administrators and observers say could require new taxes from Beacon Hill, as well as a fare increase to stave off significant service reductions....
I'm getting off now.
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