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Rising fuel costs, traffic congestion and additional service contributed to a ridership surge for Sound Transit in July. The agency carried an average of 61,000 passengers each weekday on its light-rail, commuter-rail and bus systems, a 25 percent increase compared with July 2007's total.

Ridership on the Sounder commuter-rail system skyrocketed 38 percent, in part because the agency has added three new round trips and opened a new station in Mukilteo in the past year. This fall, Sounder will feature one additional peak-period round-trip train between Tacoma and Seattle. Sound Transit also plans to add a reverse-commute train in the south corridor and one round-trip train on the Everett-to-Seattle line.

In the second quarter, Sound Transit registered a 16 percent year-over-year ridership gain.