As with many issues, the conversations in the media about public transit tend to revolve around issues that the relatively privileged face. Going carfree is a "lifestyle choice," whether to build transit depends on whether "people like us" want to use it. "Nobody rides the bus" generally means "nobody like me rides the bus."
But the fact is in many places a hell of a lot of people don't drive for financial or medical reasons. In Los Angeles, nobody rides the bus, except for the million+ daily boardings. Locally it's clear a lot of elderly people - and locally there are a lot of elderly people - use the system as their primary means of getting around.
*must be a mistake in the August 2007 ridership figure.
