Gas prices have been on the climb in America for years, but investment in mass transit has lagged far behind acceptable levels. Most major cities in the country have only nascent systems, and while new light rail and other mass transit networks are starting to spring up around America, it’s all been a bit too little way too late for a nation long dependent on cars.

Now, though, with gas prices hitting record highs and showing no signs of ever coming back down, the people once behind their wheels are starting to notice that benefits of mass transit. As Clifford Krauss reported in The Times over the weekend, mass transit ridership nationwide has reached new highs, and experts predict this growth to continue. Now if only the folks holding the purse strings would pay attention to these trends too.

Writes Krauss:

Mass transit systems around the country are seeing standing-room-only crowds on bus lines where seats were once easy to come by. Parking lots at many bus and light rail stations are suddenly overflowing, with commuters in some towns risking a ticket or tow by parking on nearby grassy areas and in vacant lots.

“In almost every transit system I talk to, we’re seeing very high rates of growth the last few months,” said William W. Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association.

“It’s very clear that a significant portion of the increase in transit use is directly caused by people who are looking for alternatives to paying $3.50 a gallon for gas.”

Some cities with long-established public transit systems, like New York and Boston, have seen increases in ridership of 5 percent or more so far this year. But the biggest surges — of 10 to 15 percent or more over last year — are occurring in many metropolitan areas in the South and West where the driving culture is strongest and bus and rail lines are more limited.

In the article, Krauss draws a very telling quote out of Joseph Giulietti, the executive director of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, operators of the Tri-Rail system. “Nobody believed that people would actually give up their cars to ride public transportation,” he said. “But in the last year, and last several months in particular, we have seen exactly that.”

With attitudes like that from the people in charge of these transit authorities, is it any surprise then that our elected officials have been loathe to invest in adequate public transportation networks? Had these networks been in place long ago, people would have gladly left their cars for fast and stress-free commutes.

As ridership increases, though, these nationwide transit authorities — as we’ve seen first-hand in New York — don’t often see the increase in revenue one would expect. While fare box collection totals go up, the same factors that drive people out of their cars — high gas prices, poor economies — are impacting the rail agencies as well. Cities that rely on sales taxes — or real estate taxes — to fund their transit networks are finding their coffers relatively empty, and the high cost of fuel and power is a drain to even the most popular of transit networks.

Over at Brooklyn Streets, Carroll Gardens, Gary Reilly throws out a suggestion that public officials should heed: “The Federal gas tax needs to be increased, and the funds must be dedicated to building a world class transit infrastructure. We are decades behind Europe and Japan in our high speed rail infrastructure. It’s time to show some leadership again.”

I couldn’t agree more. Oil prices aren’t going to go down; the cost of gas won’t magically decrease. It’s time for this nation to invest in public transportation. A token gesture here and there won’t do it, and it’s not a stretch to say that the future economic health of our nation depends on it.

Photo of high gas prices by flickr user xxtukyo.