More Americans Are Riding Light Rail

re: More Americans Are Riding Light Rail

Royko — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 00:02:28 GMT

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.

re: More Americans Are Riding Light Rail

jsjohnson1982 — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 18:03:44 GMT

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.

re: More Americans Are Riding Light Rail

Cedric Collins — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:04:52 GMT

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!

re: More Americans Are Riding Light Rail

UrbanCommuter — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 17:06:50 GMT

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.

re: More Americans Are Riding Light Rail

UrbanCommuter — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 04:15:43 GMT

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.

re: More Americans Are Riding Light Rail

UrbanCommuter — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:08:50 GMT

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???

re: More Americans Are Riding Light Rail

Royko — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 16:34:46 GMT

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.

re: More Americans Are Riding Light Rail

Royko — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 18:00:17 GMT

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.

re: More Americans Are Riding Light Rail

Royko — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 22:05:09 GMT

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?

re: More Americans Are Riding Light Rail

txilya — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 06:51:16 GMT

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).

re: More Americans Are Riding Light Rail

Don Gallagher — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 14:10:55 GMT

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.

re: More Americans Are Riding Light Rail

Cedric Collins — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 21:27:10 GMT

_ 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.

re: More Americans Are Riding Light Rail

Cedric Collins — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 20:15:10 GMT

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.