Critical Reasoning

Crowding on Mooreville's subway frequently leads to delays, because it is difficult for passengers to exit from the trains. Over the next ten years, the Mooreville Transit Authority projects that subway ridership will increase by 20 percent. The authority plans to increase the number of daily train trips by only 5 percent over the same period. Officials predict that this increase is sufficient to ensure that the incidence of delays due to crowding does not increase.

Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest grounds for the officials' prediction?
A. The population of Mooreville is not expected to increase significantly in the next ten years.
B. The Transit Authority also plans a 5 percent increase in the number of bus trips on routes that connect to subways.
C. The Transit Authority projects that the number of Mooreville residents who commute to work by automobile will increase in the next ten years.
D. Most of the projected increase in ridership is expected to occur in off-peak hours when trains now are sparsely used.
E. The 5 percent increase in the number of train trips can be achieved without an equal increase in Transit Authority operational costs.

OA after discussion.