Commuters give up the 'ball and chain'

[font size="1"]Public transit ridership shot up by 154 million rides in 2012, a study says. In Utah, commuter train ridership increased nearly 15%[/font]


(CNN) -- When Ann Arbor, Michigan, advertising executive Al McWilliams finished high school in the late 1990s, he made a vow.

He swore he would "never, ever again" commute to work by car, "no matter what I was doing in life."

Most of his teen friends were getting their first cars and feeling free, but McWilliams didn't see it like that.

For him, freedom was being able to spend three hours a day doing something other than driving to and from private school. Driving was "oppressive," and his VW GTI felt like a "ball and chain."

Flash-forward to the present. McWilliams, now 32, either walks or rides the bus to his office every day, making his way to the back of the Route 5 bus, where he'll find a window seat and maybe enjoy a nice book. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/11/travel/us-public-transportation-report/index.html?c&page=2