It's a no-brainer that Americans rely more on public transportation more than ever

By: Imanuel Larcher 
In a report released today, the American Public Transportation Association, "in 2013 Americans took 10.7 billion trips on public transportation, which is the highest annual public transit ridership number in 57 years." 

That's right, the highest since 1956!  -- before the internet boom, before computers, before SXSW started in Austin, Texas, before the Civil Rights movement, and even before some of our parents were born!  

This report today has raised questions in many people's minds.  I believe that this report is pretty accurate because financially speaking, it makes more sense.  For most young adults who do not have a parent figure looking over them financially, they are having to account for more bills than the previous generation - i.e; paying out of pocket for college, cell phone bills, additional monthly service charges including health care, living expenses, clothing, and more! 

Adding a car payment, insurance, and gas, can be an additional $400 - $800 a month, not to mention the bumps in the road that occurs when you do own a car.  New tires, replacing parts, it can get pretty pricey.  Not to mention public transportation, especially in large cities, can save you more time than getting around.  For those who fall behind due to economic difficulties, paying an additional insurance or interest on tickets (some states charge a daily fee if your car is towed), while juggling other life expenses, is simply unrealistic.  No wonder why companies like Car2Go and Lyft are growing because they are identifying this need.  

You can read the full report from APTA by clicking this link

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