Freeway speed figures aren't terribly revealing. Some key sections of the freeway showed slower conditions in October compared with the summer but not enough to draw any firm conclusions. The data come from the Freeway Performance Measurement System, a UC Berkeley database that relies on road sensors to collect traffic information.
Even in outlying areas, traffic can still be pretty harsh. "It's awful, and the 101 is still capable of coming to a standstill," said Fred Rosenmund, an Oxnard attorney who also thinks that non-rush-hour traffic is lighter.
Transit ridership on buses and trains operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority peaked in July and was about 1.5% lower in October, with an average of about 1.5 million riders each weekday.
"I'm going to go out on a limb and say I think that gas prices have something to do with it, but I wouldn't say it has everything to do with it," said Ed Muncy, director of service planning for the MTA. "It's hard to get a read on what's going on with the economy and its effect."
Still, the MTA's ridership is up over a year ago. Metrolink, the commuter rail operator, saw much the same phenomenon: peaking in July with 50,142 riders on weekdays, falling to 48,629 in October. In October 2007, Metrolink carried an average of 44,448 riders on weekdays.
Art Leahy, chief executive of the Orange County Transportation Authority, believes it is only a matter of time until gas prices rise again. And he says his agency, which set a ridership record in October, will be ready.
Instead of selling 150 old buses as planned, the agency decided to keep them in storage for the next big ridership surge.
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steve.hymon@latimes.com
ruben.vives@latimes.com
Times staff writer Doug Smith contributed to this report.
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BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX
Fuel prices
The average price of a gallon of regular gas in California:
* May 19: $3.95
* June 16: $4.59
* July 21: $4.46
* Aug. 18: $4.04
* Sept. 15: $3.80
* Oct. 20: $3.35
* Nov. 17: $2.37
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration
