U.S. transit outpaces driving.

• Author: Runyan, Curtis
• Position: Environmental Intelligence

For the fourth consecutive year, use of trains and buses in the United States grew faster than automobile use, according to the American Public Transportation Association. The number of trips taken via public transit increased by 21 percent in the past five years, while growth in driving rates increased by 11 percent.

"While it may be too soon to say that Americans' love affair with the automobile is over," said Roy Kienitz of the national transit advocacy group, the Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP), "another suitor has clearly entered the picture." In 2000 the number of miles driven by car in the United States stayed fiat for the first time in 20 years, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Meanwhile, transit use grew by 3.5 percent.

Ridership has grown for several reasons, including more public support and funding, increased traffic congestion on roads, and the construction of better transit systems. Subways and light rail have seen the fastest rates of growth, largely due to new systems in Salt Lake City, Denver, and Dallas, and extensions of existing service in Los Angeles and other metropolitan areas around the country.

"There's been a lot of investment of public...