Research Triangle Park, N.C. – Triangle Transit ridership for the first six months of the year set new records and was higher than the national average.

“We’re pleased that our ridership continues to show that people want travel choices,” said John Tallmadge, director of commuter resources.  “Whether it was because of gas prices, increased congestion, or new and expanded transit services, more and more people are riding TTA.”  TTA Ridership grew by 3.3% or 13,701 in the six month period to 433,195.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced today that ridership nationally rose 2.3% from January through June of this year.  Ridership on public transportation in America is at the highest level in 49 years.

TTA’s ridership profile mirrors a newly-released profile of public transportation passengers.  The majority of Triangle Transit’s riders use regional bus, shuttle and vanpool services to get to work or school. 

Tallmadge said calls to the GoTriangle Regional Information Center hit the 100,000 mark during the center’s first six months along with 1.2 million Web page visits to GoTriangle.org during the same period.  “Calls to 485-RIDE for transit information surpassed our original estimates.  More and more people from all walks of life use and depend on transit.”   The call center, which began operation in March, provides information for transit providers in the Triangle, including TTA, Capital Area Transit in Raleigh and DATA in Durham.

TTA is a regional public transportation provider, offering a variety of transit and vanpool services to North Carolina's greater Triangle Region and outlying counties. Regional bus service is available to Apex, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, Garner, Hillsborough, RDU International Airport, Research Triangle Park (RTP) and Raleigh.

Triangle Transit also provides commuter resources and hosts www.rideTTA.org and www.GoTriangle.org, on-line resources for public transportation information in the Triangle.