Transit ridership reached a 52-year high of 10.7 billion rides in 2008. This year, however, ridership dropped 3.8 percent during the first three quarters compared to the same nine-month period last year, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

Trips on all of the major transit modes -- bus, light rail, heavy rail, and commuter rail -- were down during the first three quarters of this year.

"This downturn in public transportation ridership is a reflection of our economic times," said APTA President William Millar. "Nearly 60 percent of riders take public transportation to commute to and from work, so it is to be expected that public transit ridership would be lower when unemployment is high."

Unemployment surged to 10.2 percent in October of this year before dropping slightly to 10.0 percent in November. These are the highest unemployment rates the country has registered since 1983.

"We would expect that when employment rebounds, so will transit ridership," Millar said.

Ridership during the first three quarters of this year dropped the most on commuter rail (5.1 percent) followed by buses (5.0 percent), heavy rail (3.0 percent), and light rail (0.7 percent).

APTA's 33-page ridership report is available at tinyurl.com/APTA3Q09.