The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) reported that Americans took 2.6 billion trips on public transportation in the first three months of 2008, almost 85 million more trips than last year for the same time period.

“There’s no doubt that the high gas prices are motivating people to change their travel behavior,” said APTA president William W. Millar.

“More and more people have decided that taking public transportation is the quickest way to beat the high gas prices.”

Last year, 10.3 billion trips were taken on U.S.public transportation – the highest number of trips taken in fifty years.

In the first quarter of 2008, public transportation rose by 3.3 percent.

In contrast, the Federal Highway Administration has reported that the vehicle miles traveled on U.S. roads declined by 2.3 percent in the first quarter.

Light rail had the highest percentage of ridership increase among all modes, with a 10.3 percent increase, commuter rail posted the second largest ridership increase at 5.7 percent, heavy rail ridership increased by 4.4 percent, and bus ridership saw an increase of 2 percent nationwide for the first quarter.

To see the complete APTA ridership report, go to http://www.apta.com/research/stats/ridership.