BALONEY!

Why don't you just redirect the remaining fixed bus routes, as you already have redirected over 1/2 of all fixed bus routes since 2004, to dump ALL the hapless poor, minority, elderly, and handicapped bus transit dependent riders at the transit stations, and just herd ALL the "sheeple" onto the tram, and then claim you have 100% ridersip!

METREAUX's has devolved into an ORWELLIAN bureaucracy.

I thought that the buses are SUPPOSED to connect to the train stations.

I don't know if having the most riders per rail car is the most admiral prestige to have. I also can't wait for it to be more packed next year. I usually get to sit down once every two weeks as it is now.

Todd,

We have a city covering over 600 square miles with half the routes reconfigured to drag the hapless bus transit dependent riders downtown, so as to take a choo choo ride (to boost the body count seemingly for propaganda purposes) to another transit center in order to get on another bus to complete a trip.

This was all handled by bus prior to January 2004.  So now we slash the bus service, take whomever must ride the bus, and force them onto the tram.

According to METREAUX's own study they only expected 55 "new" riders per year.

The waste of our precious taxpayer resources is abhorent, and it abuses the poor, minority, elderly, and handicapped bus transit dependent riders throughout the service area.

What in GOD'S name are you people talking about?  There are a number of buses that DO connect to the train stations.  The facts are there.  Just look.  Take the 1-Hospital, for example.  You can connect to and from this bus to the METRORail train if you're at the Wheeler Station.  That's within walking distance.

Royko,

      I would wish you STOP calling us train AND bus riders "sheeple."  We're humans---NOT cattle.  I cound care less if I have to constantly go from bus to train and vice-versa.  All I care about is getting from point A to point B without incident.

"....to dump ALL the hapless poor, minority, elderly, and handicapped bus transit dependent riders at the transit stations..."

What are you implying here in this statement?  That's not very smart by you saying that METRO is "dumping" us bus riders to the train station.  How else are we going to get around?  The flying magic carpet?

Sheesh!

Mr. Collins,

Since the bus ridership has continually trended DOWN ever since METREAUX hired Shirley "Truth-Challenged" DeLibero, when she decided on the ill-devised urban rail scheme, many of the formerly bus transit dependent riders, as well as most of the hundreds of thousands of new residents since 2001 have obviously been forced to rely on oter rubber-tired transportation modes instead of being herded like "sheeple" onto the unsafe, unreliable, and underutilized boondoggle tram.

Some clarification here please...

You claim that train ridership numbers are artificially inflated because the bus-riders are dumped onto the rail line.  I can see where this would be true.

However, in your last post, you state that bus ridership is trending downward.  Given your statement that almost every train rider had to come from a bus originally, how does this explain the increasing number of train riders?  

Either they're not getting dumped onto the rail, a lot of people are riding the rail only, or one of your stats is wrong.  

UrbanCommuter,

I can only tell you the "massaged" numbers that METREAUX releases to me.

They are not transparent, and I have had a number of my TXPIA requests sent to the TXOAG where I believe I have prevailed on a majority of the requests.

They just released the November data to me today, 17 days after the month ended, yet they keep running totals daily.

Bus boardings for Nov. 2007 are up 2% from 11/06 yet fare box is up 7%, likely attributable to the adjustments related to Q-card implementation.

Tram boardings for Nov. 2007 were UP 10.5% from 11/06, yet the TVM revenue again declines (-1%).

=====================

According to METREAUX's FY2006 CAFR

YEAR     TRANSIT BOARDINGS

2000     101,101,040 (all Bus)

2001     101,914,157 (all Bus)

2002      97,704,392 (all Bus)

2003      97,740,511 (all Bus)

2004      96,428,515 (91.0 MM Bus + 5.4 MM Tram)

2005      94,959,198 (84.7 MM Bus + 10.2 MM Tram)

2006     102,827,629 (91.5 MM Bus + 11.3 MM Tram)

-----------------------

Change in TVM Revenue

January through November

% change

2004-2007

$1,806,446 -6.38% $1,691,159

------------------------

Change in Est. Boardings

January through November

% change

2004-2007

6,964,900   +59.81% 11,130,400

-------------------------

Decline in TVM Revenue/Passenger

FY2005 TO FY2007 TO DATE

% change

2005-2007

$0.197 -28.40% $0.141

====================

I believe the data proves that the majority of tram riders are bus transfers.  Also, this data indicates to me (speculation as METRO asked TXOAG to "stonewall" rail fare compliance data) that many tram riders seem to be just holding a Q-card, and not debiting it unless "Rail Blitz" is in progress.

Further, the METRO bus "On-Time" performance has collapsed!  On METRO's web site the Monthly report for October 2005 (page 12) showed an on-time performance of 82.6% (goal 85%), the on-time performance was not reported in October 2006 (page12), and the October 2007 Monthly report (page 11) has the on-time performance at 57% which is a -31% DECLINE in just TWO YEARS!!!

Worse, the November report which was just posted shows the on-time performance for November 2007 (page 11) has declined further, DOWN to a pitiful 51%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is my contention that METRO is trying to make as many folks miserable so they will not oppose the METRO Grandiose Urban Rail Empire being forced on all of us!

Thanks for the stat info.  While the decrease in revenue is weird, I don't think it can be attributed just to Q card holders.  (seems like revenue's been trending downward for the past 3 years)  How many people have switched over?  Anecdotally, I haven't seen anyone but me use one (on the bus or the train).  Frankly, it's pretty easy to ride the train without a ticket, and while hard compliance numbers are going to be practically impossible to know for sure, there are probably many more free-loaders on the train than Metro would like.  

I agree that the on-time performance is indeed abysmal.  I wonder if the November 2007 on-time performance was influenced by the stop-light readjustment downtown.  

Don't focus on the Q-cards as they are just now being implemented (FOUR YEARS LATE!), and it will take a few months to learn how far off METREAUXS estimates have been over the past few years.

The important facts are that while the population for Harris COunty increased about 500,000 from the 2000 census to January 2007, METREAUX's Bus ridership has declined.  We do not have fewer poor folks, rather, we have many more illegal aliens since Houston is a "Sanctuary City" and one should expect bus ridership to have increased, not decreased.

When METREAUX started redirecting routes, and reducing the headways, there are now fewer bus revenue miles.  ECON 101 - when you have less opportunities to pick up passengers, and you are not reliable, folks have no choice but to find other means of transportation.

Ergo, the vehicle registrations in Harris COunty continue to grow, and stands just under a 1:1 ratio.

METREAUX has chased away bus riders, forcing them to find alternative means which translates to passenger cars and light trucks, which increases congestion.

It will only get worse!  When METREAUX completes the extensions to their ill-devised urban rail Empire, the poor, minority, elderly, and handicapped bus transit dependent riders in each corridor will no longer have buses stopping in near proximity.  Instead they will have to brave the sub-tropical sun and humidity, or trudge through torrential rain at least a 1/2 mile to a tram platform.

Or worse, go tell grandma that she is losing the bus she depends on, and will have to walk through a gauntlet of gang-bangers to get to the tram platform.

Seriously?  You're stating that that number of Harris County car registrations (which also includes the fast growing SUBURBS) is somehow indicative of people being forced off the buses?  I have a real hard time with that assertion.

And since you seem to insinuate that illegal immigrants who should be riding the bus are driving their cars instead, I doubt that they are registering their vehicles.

And you still haven't answered why overall boardings, including the train, are up.  Could there actually be a substantial number of riders who use the train, and only the train?  Again, if bus ridership is decreased, and nearly all train ridership comes from bus transfers, then why is train ridership not also decreasing???

Now that the office if moving to with-in blocks of the Little Pain on Main (the train), I'll make a life goal to not ride it.  I won't need it for my express route, and there seem to many bus routes one block away on each side of the train.  Secondly, once downtown, I'd just walk and save my nickels.

Saw the train track on Greenbriar Dr.  The put a sidewalk down the middle of the tracks.  Dumb!

Doesn't the train cost extra?

UrbanCommuter,

Here is a METREAUX graphic of the Service Area, which includes most of the populated county, including a majority of the suburban area.

http://www.ridemetro.org/pdf/salesmap.pdf

METREAUX only provides +/- 2% of the daily trips in the service area.  There are a little over 100 fixed bus routes and 50 express routes, and there is only 7.5 miles of "transit Backbone" tram for the service area depicted.

METREAUX's Revenue Vehicle Miles have declined each year since the tram start-up:

FY2004  57,809,095

FY2005  54,428,597

FY2006  53,984,414

The decline from FY2004 through FY2006 is -6.6%.  There are fewer buses coming to bus stops, so what are the bus transit dependent supposed to de when they need to get somewhere on time?

If I were in that situation, I would ask someone for a ride.  Is that not logical?

I don't know about you, but others may recognize that there are a whole lot of illegals driving without proper regisstration or insurance in our "Sanctuary City."

The bus boardings declined all twelve months in FY2007 as compared with FY2006.  The last two months, METREAUX reports <2 percent avg. monthly increases.

I acknowledge that there are a large number of people who work in the TMC who are "encouraged" to park at Smithlands, and ride the tram.  I have been told that some of the taxpayer funded institutions give "Free" passes paid for out of taxpayer-subsidized accounts.

Further, for the past three years the COH has appropriated a couple of million dollars of taxpayer funds for "Free" passes for employees (obviously a thinly veiled excuse to help boost the tram ridership).

As far as monthly declines in tram boardings, I guess METREAUX didn't point out that in FY2007, tram boardings declined in November and December of 2006, as well as January and September of 2007 when compared with FY2006.

Royko, I wish that someone would take your keyboard away from you or that your PC might crash.  I would love to take a vote to determine who is tired of hearing you make so many negative remarks about Metro, the employees and the service which Metro provides.

gman,

Where's your tolerance of "Diversity?"  Is freedom of speech limited so as to be exercised exclusively by the N.U.T.S. (New Urban Transit Supporters)?

I do not recall being critical of the rank-and-file employees.

Maybe we can take a similar vote to fire all the unelected and seemingly unaccountable bureaucrats at METREAUX, and shift the 1/2-billion dollars in annual sales tax revenue towards restoring critical bus service to the poor, minority, elderly, and handicapped bus transit dependent riders throughout the service area as well as fund true mobility improvement projects.

gman,

    I agree.  If you wanted to start a vote, add me to that list.  Some of the words he uses just doesn't make sense.  "METREAUX."  "Sheeple"  This may be Texas but I thought cattle had FOUR legs---not two.

Even though he does have the right to do that, it's getting too old and if you're tired of it, I'm---as a rider---am tired of it.

Royko,

     I say to you---PLEASE stop hindering and start helping to the point to where things will go your way and even I'll accept it.  Thanks.

Mr. Collins,

I am trying to help the poor, minority, elderly, and handicapped BUS transit dependent riders who have been abused by the current bureaucracy.

The question is, with the limited resources available, will we allow the bus "safety net" to be hacked away so some unelected and unacountable officials can play "Monopoly" with a private corporation seemingly composed of some political insiders and cronies, to dole out lucrative contracts to a foriegn multi-national corporation to create wasteful urban rail Empire?

UrbanCommuter asked:

"And you still haven't answered why overall boardings, including the train, are up.  Could there actually be a substantial number of riders who use the train, and only the train?  Again, if bus ridership is decreased, and nearly all train ridership comes from bus transfers, then why is train ridership not also decreasing???"

Let me try to explain why the hype and bragging on the rail ridership as compared to the buses for you.

If you take anything that has never been used before and have even 1000 passengers the first year, you can claim, or brag, that ridership is up 1000%.

Now, you have a rail line that has had bus routes forced to unload at the rail stations instead of previous drop off points, which usually were numerous, closer together and took less time (total trup time) while dropping one off closer to their destination.

Metro did not suddenly execute the shift to forcing riders to take the rail.  They started with small changes and once the TMC Transit Center was completed, they stopped bus routes from using the corridor and people were forced to transfer.  The next bug jump was the Metro office transit center opening and the same plan.

The illusion is that rail is magivally getting riders where all it is is primarily previous bus riders made to take rail for part of their journey.

Now, as to the numbers, as I said, if something starts with zero, any increase makes for a huge percentage shift.

Once a number gets really large, the number of new users has to be REALLY high even a 1% change.

Look at the numbers Tom presented above:

2004      96,428,515 (91.0 MM Bus + 5.4 MM Tram)

2005      94,959,198 (84.7 MM Bus + 10.2 MM Tram)

2006     102,827,629 (91.5 MM Bus + 11.3 MM Tram)

Buses hauled 8 times what the rail line did and most likely, 90% or more of the rail passengers are counted in the bus numbers.

From 2005 - 2007 buses added 6,800,000 additional riders! That increase is over 50% of the total rail number for 2006.

Keep in mind also that the buses (except the P&R and Expresses) are not being used with limited stops, have scheduled times FAR worse than the rail line and have to operate in traffic.

Put the buses on 6 (or even 10) minute spacings with fewer stops and some control over signals and bus numbers would rocket.

About 500,000 people ride little Hermann Park train annually - see full article at http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5386020.html

Not bad for a little choo-choo train!

METRORail is averaging more than 10 million boardings per fiscal year (Metro's statistics).

METREAUX, being the Orwellian organization that it is, has removed access to data that will disclose that the actual number of BUS riders through the Main Street corridor, BEFORE the tram was in fact ranging between 25k-30k average daily boardings, and when you factor out the TMC employees, the current tram riders in the Main Street portion of the corridor appears to have declined, since most of which are merely the bus transit dependent who are forced to ride the tram from one transit center to another so as to board another bus to complete 1/2 of a round trip.

Even with the augmented number of BOTH tram and bus boardings, METREAUX has just recovered the number of Bus Boardings they generated back before the tram construction started.

Before the "Solutions" scheme referendum vote in 2003, METREAUX stated that as many as 1,200 bus trips would be eliminated when the tram was completed, improving air quality, and reducing congestion.

Most of these were just shifted to other streets, and METREAUX stated last year that only 346 bus trips on Main Street were eliminated.  The air quality is relatively unchanged, and congestion is still haunting drivers in the corridor, due largely to the tram!

txilya said:

"About 500,000 people ride little Hermann Park train annually.

Not bad for a little choo-choo train!

METRORail is averaging more than 10 million boardings per fiscal year (Metro's statistics)."

Interesting facts.

Metro spent over $360 Million for a line that them claim carries 10-11 Million a year and their revenue is tanking.

Here is an excerpt from the article;

"Stoller estimated the railroad will earn $250,000 in profit annually. That sum, she said, will be reinvested into the park.

Train tickets will increase 25 cents to $2.50. Short said naming rights for the railroad's new rolling stock will be sold to raise additional revenue. Naming rights to locomotives will cost $250,000; for carriages, $150,000."

The little choo choo at Hermann hauls a mere 500,000 a year and will earn a "PROFIT?" of 1/4 Million a year and will be charging $2.50 a trip?

At that price, they compare to over 1.5 Million rides on MetroRail (more actually considering deflated costs due to steep discounts.

I like reading Roykos comments and his creative rebrands add color to criticism.

Others:

HOV = High Vacancy Land

Park and Ride = Park and Wait

_ said:

       "I like reading Roykos comments and his creative rebrands add color to criticism.

Others:

HOV = High Vacancy Land

Park and Ride = Park and Wait"

Huh?  Another one of Mr. Royko's "followers" who LOVES what he says?  (sighs) That's brainwashing for ya.  Sad---but I'm determined NOT to go on that list.

IMPORTANT:  I don't critize anybody or anything unless it's too personal and gets under my skin (as you SHOULD know already) and I guess this topic (or any topic about METRO) is personal, right---Mr. Royko?  Correct me if I'm wrong there.

What's a choo-choo train?  I thought only kids ride those things at amusement parks and such---not in the middle of a city street.

Mr. Collins,

Never say never.

One day you very well may experience a seminal moment of self-realization that METREAUX is full of baloney.

Royko,

     Never say never---huh?  You lost me there---and good you did.  Sometimes---I think you're full of baloney but I'll let the METRO execs handle that area.