By Jeanine Budd

As gas prices rise, so has ridership on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), according to statistics recently released.

Total MBTA ridership has increased eight percent since February 2007, from 27,424 to 30,575, the MBTA said.

The total number of MBTA trips during January and February of this year increased 83 percent over the same months in 2007.

The T option is becoming more alluring as gas prices go up, said MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas in local media reports.

“Well, what do people do when gas prices go up, in the short run? They drive less,” said Northeastern economics department chair Steven Morrison. “They’ll carpool. They’ll consolidate trips. Or they’ll shift to other modes, or they’ll continue to not drive.”

Many students have also faced the decision of what mode of transportation will be the most cost-effective, and have seemingly increased in T ridership.

During the 2006-2007 school year, 896 semester T passes were purchased by Northeastern students, said Janet Zecchino, supervisor of Northeastern’s cashiers office, which distributes the semester passes. In the 2007-2008 school year, 964 semester T passes were purchased. These numbers come without taking into account an increase in enrollment and does not account for students who opted to purchase passes directly from the MBTA.

But rising gas prices have not convinced all student commuters to turn to the T.

“There’s probably not a price that’d make me stop driving,” said Katelyn Cairns, a freshman international business major who drives from Haverhill to Reading and then takes the commuter rail into Boston. “I still drive to school just as much as I normally do. It may cost me a little bit more, but I still have to get to school somehow.”