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Jan 9, 2009 9:46 pm US/Central
DART Ridership At Record Levels Despite Gas Prices
Reporting
Jack Fink
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Last summer's high gas prices forced many people to get out of their cars and onto DART's Light Rail. Even though gas prices have plummeted since then, rail ridership has not.
CBS 11 News met a group of women who've been riding the rail for years and recently formed their own network. They've watching their membership grow along with the rail's popularity.
"Definitely the crowds have increased," said Judy Appelman. "They see how easy it is."
The group of ladies call themselves the Blue Line Ladies Lunch Bunch. Last April they formed their network of professional women after Darlene Bennett and Appelman met on the rail and decided to go to lunch.
Now, nine months after handing out business cards to other women, Appelman said, "We're up to 46."
Gas prices dropped from $4 a gallon last August to a $1.50 a gallon in November. In that same time period, the average weekday ridership on DART's rail remained at record highs with more than 70,000 people riding.
Michael Morris, a regional transportation planner with the North Central Texas Council of Governments said, "The data indicate DART riders did see benefits and actually retained their rail riding behavior even though gas prices have come back down. We need to build more rail in large portions of the region."
Regional transportation planners hope the state legislature will allow voters to decide whether to tax themselves to create additional light rail lines here.
DART is doubling its rail system to 90 miles by 2013.
Darlene Bennett hopes their network grows with it. "Especially with the economy being the way it is right now, it's a wonderful opportunity for us to network among ourselves."
Judy Appelman agrees. "It makes sense for us to network. Some of us are looking for jobs. Some of us are trying to sell houses."
The group meets for lunch once a month and the women want to start a network on DART's Red Line and upcoming Green Line. They are also working to put together their own website.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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