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Last year, MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) posted its highest ridership and best on-time performance in four years. The agency carried 82.1 million passengers, a 2.4 percent increase compared with 2005, and recorded on-time performance of 93.3 percent compared with 2005’s 92.2 percent.

Commutation ridership — which comprises passengers who purchase monthly or weekly passes — reached 48.5 million, a 1.7 percent increase compared with 2005. Non-commutation ridership totaled 33.5 million, up 3.5 percent. Officials attribute the ridership increases to rising gasoline prices and expanded service. In 2006, the agency operated 242,000 trains compared with 234,000 in 2005.

Meanwhile, on-time performance received a boost from a new fleet of M-7 electric cars, which have a mean distance between failure of almost 300,000 miles, LIRR said.