[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]

Last year Metro Transit reached its highest number of riders served in a single year since 1982, the agency announced Friday.

Metro Transit buses picked up about 12.6 million riders in 2007, 5.3 percent more than 2006 with about 12 million riders, according to the report. Metro?s lowest ridership was about 9 million in 1989.

Metro Transit General Manager Chuck Kamp said he attributes the increase in riders to environmental consciousness in Madison, employee commitment and unlimited ride pass agreements with businesses and schools like the University of Wisconsin.

?UW benefits tremendously from unlimited ride passes with students and staff having to deal less with parking,? Kamp said. ?UW also pays Metro for the 80, 81 and 85 bus service so students can ride for free.?

The ?green? mentality sweeping the city also contributes to the spark in ridership, Metro spokesperson Mike Rusch said.

?More and more people are trying to find alternative ways to travel,? Rusch said. ?The five new hybrid busses on the street have gotten a very positive response. People like the fact that they?re quieter and use electric power.?

Rusch said Metro Transit is waiting to see the returns on the hybrid bus investments to determine the success of the new technology.

In order to keep rider numbers high, Kamp said Metro is investigating marketing methods to make Metro look more appealing and convenient to small businesses attempting to go green.

?We think a lot of companies are hoping to go green,? Kamp said. ?We might get 50 to 20 percent [of the businesses] to switch from parking to transit.?

Although the first attempts to advertise to small businesses were unsuccessful, Kamp said the agency is going back to the drawing board and trying to develop a different strategy.

To maximize effectiveness of public transportation in Madison and surrounding areas, Kamp said there needs to be a regional transit authority.

According to Kamp, instead of being controlled by the city, like Metro Transit currently is, the RTA would be governed by representatives from every region it served. The government would own the RTA and provide a stable funding source, unlike the limited budget Kamp said Metro Transit is currently working with.

Kamp said he is very encouraged by a legislative study on the possibility of an RTA, adding, ?This potentially could be the most important breakthrough in transportation in Wisconsin in half a century.?

RTA is currently being revised by the Dane County Board of Supervisors.