LOUISVILLE - About 5,000 fewer drivers drove on U.S. Highway 36 in 2011, according to a new report from the 36 Commuting Solutions nonprofit advocacy group.

Those single-person-in-a-car trips represented a 1 percent drop in traffic, according to the new U.S. 36 Mobility Report for 2011.

However, close to 94,920 daily vehicle trips were made each way on U.S. 36 in 2011, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation statistics cited in the report. Those continued high trip numbers make it crucial to push for new bus and commuter rail transport along the busy highway, said George Gerstle, chairman of the 36 Commuting Solutions group.

"We need to ... turn over every stone to make sure the FasTracks vision of a stellar Bus Rapid Transit system and commuter rail in the corridor happens sooner rather than later," Gerstle said in a press statement accompanying the U.S,. 36 Mobility Report.

Gerstle highlighted the new, $312 million, two-and-a-half year U.S. 36 Express Lanes project as one that needs to be expanded. Project construction started recently to build dedicated lanes in each direction from Denver to Louisville for buses, high-occupancy vehicles and toll-paying drivers.

"While the first phase of the U.S. 36 Express Lanes project is a major step in the right direction, it is important that it be completed all the way to Boulder so all of our customers have travel choices the entire length of U.S. 36 by 2015," Gerstle said.

At the same time, the U.S. 36 Mobility Report shows that Boulder has almost twice as many Regional Transportation District Eco Pass users per capita as does Denver. In Boulder, 22,163 employees have the bus passes, or 25.68 percent of the entire workforce, according to the report. In Denver, 57,139 employees have bus passes, or 12.55 percent of the workforce, according to the report.

In addition, the report shows that Westminster and Superior had the highest rates of carpooling of any cities along the U.S. 36 corridor in 2011. Boulder had the highest rates of transit and bicycle use. Superior and Louisville shows the highest rates of people who work from home.

36 Commuting Solutions is a group of 65 members from companies along the U.S. 36 corridor, nine public-sector members between Westminster, Boulder and Longmont, and nine individual members. The group's offices are in Louisville.