Secretly, transit officials all across the country have to be celebrating each time a station attendant increases the price on a gas station sign. Click read more to find out why.

Today, Metrolink announced record ridership on its several LA Area lines as some 50,232 commuters used the heavy-rail system on Tuesday to get to work. That’s a 15.6% increase over the same day last year and is an all-time record for the 15 year old rail operation.

Ridership is up in other areas and on other systems throughout Los Angeles as well. Metro rail says over 7 million people rode the Red, Blue and Yellow lines in May, also another record.

Single-passenger commuters, meanwhile, must be enjoying the freeways a bit more- CalTrans says traffic on California freeways dropped 1.5% last month, according to the Times. That accounts for a billion fewer miles traveled by car.

According to Tripe-A, gas prices for regular average $4.61 in the Golden State and almost $5 for premium.

The transit operators interviewed in the LA Times article say that’s precisely the reason people are using mass transit now.

Since I’ve been a bicycle commuter, I’ve become really interested in this issue and have become even more observant of traffic in Santa Clarita. Anecdotally, it doesn’t appear that gas prices are impacting people who drive in Santa Clarita yet, but I have seen more scooters, motorcycles, and other fuel efficient vehicles on the road.

I still see Santa Clarita Transit buses filled only halfway to capacity, though in the morning on my ride to work, I see SCT commuter buses that appear to be quite full.

This being Santa Clarita though,there are still plenty of SUVs and giant stomper trucks on the road, and the funny thing is, they don’t all have “For Sale” signs.

I think I know why. A friend of mine owns a gigantic Chevy stomper truck. He works for a modest salary and the gas prices have him hit really hard. So what did he do? He decided to stop eating out at lunch; he now packs a lunch and brings it to work in his giant stomper truck.

At that point you have to wonder whether your possessions work for you or you work for your possessions.

Anyway, today’s news proves there is a silver lining to the gas price increases. For years, transit folks and urbanists have said the only way to force people to get out of their cars is to have shockingly-high gas prices, and it appears that day may be upon us.

 Link