Today is “Dump the Pump Day”

Since it was launched by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) in 2006, the third Thursday of June is “Dump the Pump Day.” The aim is to encourage people to break free from their reliance on gasoline-powered vehicles by utilizing public transportation as an alternative for just one day and to bring awareness to the environmental impact of gasoline use.

According to the APTA, every $1 invested in public transportation generates $5 in economic returns, and that every $1 Billion invested in transit results in approximately 50,000 new jobs.

In 2022, the US consumed approximately 369 million gallons of motor gasoline a day according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Transit ridership continues to increase coming out of COVID. Unlinked transit passenger trips for Q1 of 2023 were up 24% versus the same time period in 2022 in the United States. The greatest increase was in commuter rail, which was up 43% year over year. Bus ridership was up 21%.

Canada has also seen an increase in ridership with overall trips up 51%.

Even with these year over year increases, ridership is still down versus 2020 Q1 prior to COVID-19. Unlinked transit passenger trips in the US are still 23% below 2020. Commuter rail is down 30% and buses are down 21%.

Motionworks® mobility data shows that people in the United States are still traveling less miles in an average day than they did prior to COVID-19 (Q1 2023 vs. Q1 2020) but the difference in distance traveled daily varies significantly by market.

For more information on the per capita travel in your market, please contact us at [email protected]