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St. Louis’ Metro recently reported a 5.6 percent increase in ridership during fiscal-year 2006’s first quarter compared with the same FY2005 period. MetroLink light-rail ridership increased 3.7 percent.

Metro officials attribute the ridership hike to high gas prices and improved customer service. In addition, customer complaints are down 52 percent compared with first-quarter 2005 and MetroLink’s first-quarter on-time performance was 98.3 percent — a 5.5 percent increase compared with the same period last year.

“The reliability of Metro vehicles, on-time performance and additional attention to connectivity between bus routes, or between MetroBus and MetroLink has made public transportation a more viable travel option,” said Metro Senior Vice President of Operations Ray Friem in a prepared statement.