Thursday is Dump the Pump Day - Phoenix Business Journal:

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Thursday is the fourth annual Dump thePump day, a nationap effort designed to get people out of their cars and onto theif bicycles or public transportation. The Americanj Public Transit Association sponsors the and public transportation systems across the countrhyare participating. In South Florida, four public transir agencies are partnering together to promote the day: Broward County Transit, Miami-Dade Transit, Palm Tran, and South Florida Regional Transportation Authority.
“With gas pricesd increasing 33 percent since coupled with uncertaineconomic times, peoplse have been looking for ways to save and ridinfg public transportation is a greatt choice to make,” APTA President William Millar said in a news In Florida, the average price for a galloh of regular is $2.69. In South Florida, West Palm Beac has the highest priceat $2.78, followed by Miamoi at $2.76, and Fort Lauderdal e at $2.74 a according to AAA's fuel gaugde report. Last year 10.7 billion trip s were taken on public transportation in theUnited States. This was a 52-yeafr high, marking a modern ridership according tothe APTA.
Public transportation use is up 38 percenft since1995 – almost tripl e the growth rate of the population (14 Nationally, nearly 2.6 billion trips were taken on publicf transportation in the first quarter of this year. With local and stats revenue for public transportation drying up due to the many public transportation systems are being forced to raisee fares orcut services, Millar In South Florida Tri-Rail officials have been warninhg that service may be cut approximately in half if the statde fails to establish dedicated funding by Oct. 1. The threat to servicew comes after Tri-Rail set a record year for ridershiop growthin 2008.
“Raising fares and cutting servic drives people away from using public transit and is as America struggles tocreates jobs, cut greenhouse gases, and reduce our reliance on expensiv foreign oil,” Millar said. Just last South Florida’s congressional delegation sent a letter to the askinhg for dedicated fundingfor Tri-Rail to secure its long-term