Commuters lift public transport head count

Commuters have increased their use of public transport this year despite relatively stable petrol prices.

Transport Department figures obtained by The Advertiser show buses, trains and trams have had 56.4 million boardings between last July and this April – an increase of 526,000 on the previous year.

Total boardings on the bus network were 44,252,000 – up 415,000 on the same period in 2008-09.

Train patronage was down slightly to 9,803,000 boardings from 9,813,000.

However, the Belair rail line was closed for about four months from April last year for upgrades and the Outer Harbor line was also partially shutdown between November 2009 and May 2010 for a Port Adelaide Viaduct upgrade.

Trams experienced the biggest increase with 2,346,000 boardings between July 2009 and April 2010 compared with 2,226,000 last year.

via AdelaideNow