Monday, June 09, 2008

Not Necessarily High On Cocaine

Riding the rails.

Spurred largely by soaring fuel prices, ridership on commuter rail lines is up here and around the country.

On SEPTA Regional Rail, that's 2.8 million more trips, or an 11 percent increase, over last fiscal year. And on the 14-mile PATCO High-Speed Line, average weekday ridership is 35,138, up fron nearly 33,000 a year ago.

For some riders, that means finding a seat also might be problem.

John Kopesky, a lawyer who makes his way to Center City on SEPTA's R6 from Norristown's Elm Street Station, said parking has not been a problem for him because he takes the first or second train train out in the morning.

But, he said, he has noticed that as soon as the train crosses into the cheaper inner zone, ridership soars.