The Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA) set a new ridership record with 11.3 million rides between October 1, 2007 and September 30, 2008.
The 11.3 million riders represent a 5.8 percent increase from last year’s numbers, and mark a 37-year high for CATA.
“We are doing all we can to meet the growing demand for public transportation,” says Sandy Draggoo, CATA's 
director. “Regular customers are using CATA for more trips than in the past. Many work commuters started using CATA services to save money when gas prices rose. We are working hard to stretch our resources to meet this growing demand.”
More than 623,000 trips were taken on CATA buses.
The most significant growth this past year occurred in urban routes throughout the region. September 2008 ridership of 1,250,878 broke all of CATA’s monthly ridership records.
In that month alone, customers took 156,783 more rides compared to the same month in 2007.
Average CATA weekday ridership in September 2008 was 53,000 system-wide.
Voters will soon be asked to cast a vote on CATA’s request for a .787 mill increase. For a home valued at $100,000 this equals $39.35 a year.
Source: Pat Gilbert, CATA
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie
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