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This summer, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Capital Metro) served its one-millionth rider on Metrorail in Austin, Texas, and posted a “dramatic” increase in rail and bus ridership, agency officials reported.

From October 2011 through June 2012, Capital Metro’s ridership increased by more than a 1 million trips compared with the same timeframe a year earlier. MetroRail ridership soared by more than 49 percent, or 133,000 trips, Capital Metro officials said. Bus ridership increased 3.9 percent.

Total ridership is on pace to exceed 33 million passenger trips in 2012, with a projected increase to 34 million trips in 2013, agency officials said.

Officials attributed the ridership growth to agency streamlining and improved connectivity of routes throughout Capital Metro’s 522 square-mile service area. MetroRail ridership has tripled since the service began in central Texas two years ago. In March, the city of Austin began funding weekend service in response to public demand for high-capacity transit, agency officials said.

“We strive every day to provide dependable, beneficial transit options for the community, and we’ll continue to build on ridership success into the future as we look at more ways of extending transit throughout the region,” said Capital Metro President and Chief Executive Officer Linda Watson.