[ti:America's Public Transit Ridership Hits Highest Level in Decades] [ar:Jonathan Evans] [al:Technology Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report. [00:05.49]A record number of Americans are moving into cities. [00:17.07]When they move into urban areas they drive less. [00:21.96]New York city is one of the top cities for new people [00:27.59]and for users of mass transit. [00:31.28]There are about 3.4 billion rides [00:36.46]on New York City subways and buses every year. [00:41.22]That is about one-third of all [00:45.90]mass transit trips in the United States. [00:49.92]New York's mass transit system [00:53.39]operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. [00:58.27]The public transport system costs [01:01.74]$1.5 billion a year to maintain. [01:06.03]It is one of the world's oldest mass transit systems. [01:11.12]The city's first subway line opened in 1904. [01:16.74]Use of public transportation is the highest [01:21.51]it has been in almost 60 years in almost every American city. [01:27.82]Researchers say Americans took 10.7 billion trips [01:33.48]on public transportation in 2012. [01:36.78]Gene Russianoff is spokesman for the Straphangers Campaign. [01:42.15]The group supports people who take public transportation. [01:46.77]He says younger Americans are causing the rise in mass transit use. [01:53.54]"Millenials, those people born around the turn of the past century [02:00.51]are much less car-oriented. [02:03.95]They are urban. They like not owning cars, [02:06.34]they like less responsibility [02:08.12]and there are a lot of them," Russianoff said. [02:09.95]Many people, not just Millenials, [02:13.87]believe public transit is less costly [02:17.61]than car use and is good for the environment. [02:20.76]New York City is planning several major expansions [02:26.43]of its public transportation system. [02:29.15]One project is a new $4.7 billion subway line. [02:34.96]The first part of the project is set to be completed in 2016. [02:41.04]People who work in New York's financial area [02:45.08]will soon be using a new subway center. [02:48.16]Almost all of New York city's subways meet [02:52.58]in the lower part of Manhattan. [02:55.02]The new center will give riders an easier way [03:00.23]to travel to the neighboring state of New Jersey. [03:04.12]The most costly planned project [03:07.84]is a $7 billion tunnel connection [03:10.67]from Long Island into Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal. [03:15.37]Andrew Albert is a member of the board of the Metropolitan Transit Authority. [03:23.10]He says there are many other reasons [03:26.40]for the increase in the use of mass transit. [03:30.03]"The system has gotten a lot more dependable. [03:32.62]We have new cars. We have countdown clocks to tell you [03:34.73]when the next train is coming. [03:36.30]We have expanded facilities in places," Albert said. [03:38.79]And that's the VOA Learning English Technology Report. [03:44.64]For more technology stories, go to our website 51voa.com. [03:53.30]I'm Jonathan Evans.