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In August, the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) registered a little more than 8 million rail and bus trips, down 4.4 percent compared with August 2008 ridership.

While construction on the steel bridge for three weeks in August 2008 shifted ridership from MAX light-rail lines to buses, MAX trips rose but bus trips posted steep declines last month, TriMet officials said in a ridership summary.

“Also, ridership continues to be impacted by the recession, double-digit unemployment and lower gas prices that were at records levels last year,” they said.

Overall, weekly trips dropped 4.4 percent to 1.9 million, weekday trips decreased 5.1 percent to 300,400, weekend trips fell 1.3 percent to 354,800 and rush-hour trips declined 11.6 percent to 90,100.

MAX weekly trips increased 9.2 percent to 691,400, weekday trips rose 8.9 percent 107,700 trips, weekend trips went up 10.3 percent to 152,900 and rush-hour trips dropped 5.5 percent to 30,900.

Meanwhile, weekly trips on TriMet’s WES commuter-rail service, which was launched in February, totaled 5,900. Weekday/rush-hour trips averaged 1,180 boardings.