When gas prices reach new record levels, apparently the trendy thing to do is to write articles that remind your readers about exactly how high those prices are. Every day. Throwing in a bunch of anecdotes about how folks are dealing with those prices - that’s the new black.

Today, Joseph Gambardello rehashes last week’s statistical snooze-fest with the tales of some folks that are having difficulty finding places to sit down on their trains now that ridership is up 11%:

Although Spanier, 25, a social worker, had to park in an outer lot yesterday, his 8:30 a.m. trip from Westmont to 10th and Locust Streets was not as crowded as it has been on some other mornings.

One factor was that the train before his was an express between Woodcrest and Ferry Avenue. Then there was the possibility the stifling heat prompted some rail riders to forget the cost and drive to work in air-conditoned vehicles.

Still, Spanier said, there have been days when he has had to stand.

“The trains are definitely filling up,” he said. “But it hasn’t gotten to the point where people are on top of each other.”

“It has to be the cost of gas,” he said.

As annoying as these repetitive examinations of the cost of transportation are getting, they are good for SEPTA passengers. There is something to be said about the news media going on and on about this, and essentially taking SEPTA to task each week about how to serve their customers. The stories are different, but the message is always the same: the cost of driving isn’t going down anytime soon, so get ready for a continuing boom in ridership.