Commuters stick with T despite drop in gas prices

Despite falling gasoline prices, the number of weekday MBTA passengers grew 5.5 percent in October compared with the same month last year, prompting speculation that new converts might be sticking with public transit.

The latest passenger numbers, which the MBTA will release today, show a continued increase in a month when gas prices fell below $3 after hitting a peak of more than $4 this summer. Gas prices have since fallen below $2. November ridership numbers, which will reflect commuter reaction to the lower prices, will not be available for another month.

"Obviously, a lot of people were very concerned that the fall in gas prices would result in people going back to their single-occupancy vehicles," said Daniel A. Grabauskas, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. He called the trend tremendous.

Ridership has grown every month this year over the same months last year, after declining the last four months of 2007, a year in which the T raised fares. Some of the current increases may be a rebounding effect, as riders who opted out of public transit last year returned, after getting used to the higher fares.

"I think the big story is the economy, not necessarily the gas prices alone," said Art Kinsman, director of government affairs for AAA Southern New England.

Kinsman speculated that riders who tried the T over the summer, when gas prices rose above $4, rediscovered the convenience and low price of public transit. As the economic recession continues, many commuters have refused to go back to their "previous gas guzzling ways," he said, counting himself among those who have returned to the T for some travel.

Daily commuters say they have not noticed any let-up in the crowded commuter parking lots, trains, and subway cars, even as gas prices decline. "It's crazy. There's no parking," said Dianne Alpert, a cardiac assistant from Canton who takes the T to Massachusetts General Hospital.

Roger Thompson, a human resources manager from Dorchester who takes the Red Line to work, said that despite the T's problems and delays, many of the new riders probably realized its convenience when they tried public transit over the summer. Even as gas prices have fallen again, people want to keep that savings, rather than return to their old patterns, he speculated.

Overall, riders took 1,313,000 trips on the average weekday in October. The 5.5 percent monthly jump was higher than the August and September increases, both of which were below 3 percent. But the overall number of riders was slightly higher in September than October, by about 32,000 trips per day.

Another factor is the fact that October 2007 was a very bad month on the T, when ridership fell by 6.4 percent over the previous year.

The recent numbers still represent a decline, compared with the average weekday passenger load in 2006.