King County Metro Transit bus ridership increased a record-setting 7 percent last year with an estimated 110 million passenger boardings in 2007, surpassing the 103.2-million mark set in 2006.

Preliminary estimates will be finalized in March, but it is believed to be the largest annual ridership increase for Metro in the past 10 years. Breaking down the numbers shows that Metro had 365,000 boardings on an average weekday last year.

"More people are turning to the bus for their daily travel, and they like the service enough to make it a permanent choice," said Ron Sims, King County executive.

The 110 million boardings do not include trips taken by passengers traveling in vanpools and or ridership on Metro's Access services for people with disabilities. The vanpool programs have seen strong growth, too. Vanpool ridership was about 2.3 million in 2007 - up 18 percent from the previous year. The newer Vanshare program totaled 300,000 rides in 2007, a 39 percent increase for the year. The Access program continues to provide about 1.2 million trips a year.

Metro managers say high gas prices and strong employment have historically contributed to ridership gains. Gas prices increased 10 percent in 2007, and employment in King County rose 2.5 percent.