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Ridership on the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (METRO) system rose 5.7 percent in November compared with the same month a year ago, representing the fourth consecutive month ridership increased for the Houston-area system.

The gain was the highest non-weather-related increase since July 2006, METRO officials said in a prepared statement.

METRORail’s ridership increased 5.1 percent to 874,184 boardings compared with 831,851 in November 2010.

“As the economic situation settles down, METRO’s focus on delivering first-class transit services based on smart service is starting to pay off,” said METRO President and Chief Executive Officer George Greanias. “We have a long way to go, but the trends are clearly in the right direction.”

The ridership gain was attributed to two primary factors: a more stable economy in Houston and “ongoing fine-tuning on the METRO system, performed through annual service adjustments,” agency said.