NEWARK, N.J. — N.J. Transit ridership set new all-time highs in Fiscal Year 2007 (FY07), with average weekday ridership reaching 865,000 weekday trips on the agency’s bus, rail and light rail lines.
The Corporation’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.
The fourth quarter (April-June) showed an overall ridership increase of four percent above the same period last year. Weekday ridership increased 3.9 percent over last year, averaging 890,000 passenger trips—the highest quarterly figure in N.J. Transit ’s history — while weekend ridership increased 4.7 percent to 689,000 trips. In all, N.J. Transit carried more than 64 million passenger trips during the fourth quarter.
“These ridership figures reaffirm the importance of public transportation for our residents and for the state and regional economies,” said Governor Jon S. Corzine. “They also underscore the need to continue investing in the system through such projects as Access to the Region’s Core to meet future transportation demands.”
“The growth in ridership shows that residents will opt for public transportation when reliable, safe and convenient service is delivered,” said Transportation Commissioner and N.J. Transit Board Chairman Kris Kolluri. “N.J. Transit improves everyone’s quality-of-life by reducing congestion on our highways and reducing pollution in the air we breathe.”
“These record ridership figures show that we are making progress toward making N.J. Transit the preferred choice for transportation,” said N.J. Transit Executive Director Richard Sarles. “The numbers also show that we must continue to work hard to ensure our customers’ experience is a good one.”
For FY07 as a whole, N.J. Transit posted a record 251 million trips—4.1 percent higher than the previous year. Average weekday ridership increased 3.7 percent to a fiscal year record of 865,000 passenger trips. Weekend ridership averaged 672,000 passenger trips, also a record, and was 5.5 percent higher than last fiscal year.
Bus ridership grew 1.5 percent during the fourth quarter and 1.4 percent for FY07, setting a record of 159 million trips for the fiscal year. Average weekday bus ridership topped 548,000 trips in the fourth quarter, the highest ever recorded.
Rail ridership set records for both the fourth quarter and fiscal year, increasing 6.6 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively. Rail trips for the fiscal year posted a new high of 73 million trips, while average weekday ridership during the fourth quarter totaled a record-setting 276,000 trips.
Around the rail system, ridership through the Frank R. Lautenberg Rail Station at Secaucus Junction increased 22 percent for the quarter and 17.1 percent for FY07.
Light rail ridership completed the record-setting sweep, with an increase in the fourth quarter of 16.7 percent over last year and 22.3 percent for the fiscal year. Ridership for FY07 reached 19 million trips, with ridership for the fourth quarter establishing a new record of 66,000 average weekday trips.
— Special to Railfanning.org
