Nationally, nearly 2.6 billion trips were taken on public transportation in the first quarter of 2009, according to a report released today by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). Even with significant declines in gasoline prices, higher unemployment, a general economic downturn, and lower state and local revenue, public transportation use in the first quarter is essentially flat – almost matching last year’s modern record first quarter ridership -declining by only 1.2 percent. This 1.2 percent decline is less than the decline of vehicle miles traveled on our nation’s roads, which declined by 1.7 percent (representing 11.6 billion vehicle miles), according to the U.S. Department of Transportation during the same period.