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The Port Authority of Allegheny County has bounced back from a ridership slump. Last year, the authority registered almost 70 million passengers — its highest figure in three years and a 2.2 percent increase compared with 2004.

The authority posted average weekday light-rail ridership of 25,187 — the highest level in eight years. Authority officials attribute the increase in part to the first full year of operation of the reconstructed Overbrook Line, which reopened in June 2004 after being closed because of safety concerns in 1993.

The authority’s total average weekday ridership, which reached 236,603 in 2005, has increased in 16 consecutive months.