The American Public Transportation Association released a report today showing that nationally transit trips are up 2.6% in the first three quarters of this year. In Los Angeles, ridership on LA Metro's system was up 1.7% in the first three months of this year, with light rail ridership up 13.7% and bus ridership up 0.1%. But Metro noted that ridership in October was actually up by 23% over October 2011, with rail ridership up 23% and bus ridership up 5%.

In Southern California transit ridership is up most impressively in Riverside County, where it jumped 27% over the past decade, largely due to high gas prices and high unemployment. A significant share of ridership in Riverside County is also due to an "any ride any time" program that was introduced in 2006 for college students who pay a small fee and can ride transit as much as they want.

Read more in the LA Times.