MBTA ridership climbs as gas prices soar

BOSTON, May 6 (UPI) -- The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has seen its ridership surge since gas prices began to skyrocket, officials said.

The Boston Herald reported Tuesday that much of the extra money the MBTA is raking in will go to cover its own gas prices.

"There's no question that one of the biggest factors is the pain of filling up at the pump," said Dan Grabauskas, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

He said ridership this year could exceed 2001's high of 354 million riders.

MBTA said Tuesday overall ridership was up 6.2 percent during the first three months of the year.

Virginia Miller, spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based American Public Transportation Association, said transit officials consider $3 a gallon for gas as a "price point" in the minds of many consumers, The Boston Globe reported.

"They say, 'I can't afford that anymore,' and they start looking for other options," Miller said. "Now, we're way beyond $3 -- $3.50, $3.75, $4 in some places -- so there's a whole other level of people who are going, 'Whoa. This is just too much money, and I'm going to look into taking a bus or train."