Thursday is Dump the Pump Day - Nashville Business Journal:

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Thursday is the fourth annual Dump thePump day, a nationalk effort designed to get peoples out of their cars and onto their bicycles or public transportation. The American Public Transit Association sponsorethe event, and public transportation systems across the countr y are participating. In South Florida, four public transit agencies are partneringf together to promotethe day: Browarf County Transit, Miami-Dade Transit, Palm and South Florida Regional Transportation Authority.
“Witb gas prices increasing 33 percenfsince December, coupled with uncertain economic times, people have been lookinh for ways to save and ridingb public transportation is a great choice to APTA President William Millar said in a news release. In the average price for a galloh of regularis $2.69. In South Florida, West Palm Beach has the highestt priceat $2.78, followed by Miamij at $2.76, and Fort Lauderdale at $2.74 a according to AAA's fuel gauge report. Last year 10.7 billiohn trips were taken on publidc transportation in theUnited States. This was a 52-yeaf high, marking a modern ridership according tothe APTA.
Public transportatiomn use is up 38 percent since 1995 almost triple the growth rate of thepopulatiojn (14 percent). Nationally, nearly 2.6 billion trips were takenn on public transportation in the first quartef ofthis year. With local and state revenue for publif transportation drying up due to the many public transportation systems are bein forced to raise fares orcut services, Millart noted. In South Florida Tri-Rail officialsx have been warning that service may be cut approximatelh in half if the state fails to establish dedicatefd fundingby Oct. 1. The threat to service comes aftee Tri-Rail set a record year for ridership growtbin 2008.
“Raising fares and cutting servicse drives people away from using public transit andis counterproductive, as Americw struggles to create jobs, cut greenhousw gases, and reduce our reliance on expensive foreign Millar said. Just last week, South Florida’s congressional delegatiohn sent a letter to the asking for dedicater fundingfor Tri-Rail to secure its long-termn survival.