Commuter rail ridership broke an all-time record this week, and Caltrans reported a dip in freeway traffic as commuters across California struggled with record gasoline prices, the L.A. Times reports.

Metrolink recorded its highest number of riders in a single day Tuesday — 50,232 — a 15.6% increase over the volume on the Tuesday of the same week last year. Metro Rail ridership has also risen, shooting up 6% last month over May 2007, with the downtown L.A.-to-Pasadena Gold Line setting an all-time ridership record, said Dave Sotero, a Metro spokesman.

Meanwhile, Caltrans officials said Thursday that traffic on California freeways dropped 1.5% over last year — the equivalent of a billion fewer miles traveled, said spokesman Derrick Alatorre.

In Los Angeles and Ventura counties combined, Caltrans’ traffic sensors found a slight decline in freeway traffic: from 91.7 million miles traveled in March to 91.4 million in May, the most recent data available.

Read the full L.A. Times story

.(registration required)