The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Paul Nussbaum reports on the local trend that’s following the national trend: drivers are fleeing rising gas prices by taking mass transit.

So far this fiscal year, SEPTA ridership is up 5 percent, or 13 million trips, from last fiscal year. The increase on Regional Rail trains is even greater proportionately - 2.8 million more trips, an 11 percent increase.

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The increases in the Philadelphia region are part of a national trend.

Americans took 10.3 billion trips on public transportation in 2007, the most in 50 years and a 2 percent increase over 2006, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

Another interesting factoid from yesterday on CNN, which reported motorists curtailing their driving miles in “the sharpest yearly drop for any month in Federal Highway Administration history.“