METRO Airport Direct Beats Expectations

[MetroMogul]

From the bloggers mouth......

Don G,

METRO launched Airport Direct on Aug. 27, 2009. In March, our seventh month of service, we had an average weekday ridership of 98 passengers per day. That was 22 percent higher than what we had projected.

"Since October, there's been steady growth based on our original projected weekday ridership that varies from 1 to 37 percent growth, month over month," said Ninfa Muench, manager of contracted services.

"We're looking constantly for ways to improve services to the individuals using it. The concierge service strives to assist passengers," added Muench.

Link to blog posting........

http://blogs.ridemetro.org/blogs/write_on/...r.-Solomon.aspx

I want you all to understand that Metro uses their brand new, very expensive, 55 passenger luxury Hybrid MCI coaches for this service. There are 30 trips each way (DTC to IAH and IAH to DTC) so if you're getting, let's just round up, 100 passengers per day, you are averaging a little over 1 and 1/2 passengers per trip. Yes, that's a 55 passenger super coach to haul 1-2 people, on a good day. But, it beats Metro's expectaions! What a success!

[memebag]

Wow, I wonder what the diesel costs?

[Trae]

Still, I bet if it light rail up to the airport, the ridership would be much, MUCH better.

[roadrunner]

What a joke. I have no idea how this service would be beneficial to anybody other than someone who is flying here for business with the most strict expense policy ever.

[Montrose1100]

It's a blog from the future! (August 27th, 2009)

[gto250us]

This is the best deal in town. I have used it. You can't beat $30 to get to the airport roundtrip, plus no parking fee for 5 days.

[jb4647]

This is the best deal in town. I have used it. You can't beat $30 to get to the airport roundtrip, plus no parking fee for 5 days.

So how do you get downtown to pick it up?

[N Judah]

Still, I bet if it light rail up to the airport, the ridership would be much, MUCH better.

I think that would take too long. I think it would be better to hold out for commuter rail or a real subway to IAH.

[memebag]

So how do you get downtown to pick it up?

I'm guessing on a bus.

[RedScare]

I think that would take too long. I think it would be better to hold out for commuter rail or a real subway to IAH.

Yeah, now that we've got the numbers that prove the demand is there, it should happen in no time. In fact, subway funding to IAH is likely in the stimulus package now.

[MetroMogul]

It's a blog from the future! (August 27th, 2009)

Too bad they couldn't foresee these horrible results. Or in Metro speak, wonderful, expectation beating results!

Hopefully Houston195?? will find this thread. He/she argued me to the death about Metro's ridership projections for this service. I'd like to tell that person they were right, the projections were 75 people per day, not the 100 I had said.

[MetroMogul]

Yeah, now that we've got the numbers that prove the demand is there, it should happen in no time. In fact, subway funding to IAH is likely in the stimulus package now.

Charging $10 per trip on a subway/commuter rail style express service to the Airport would be reasonable and ideal. Charging $15 for a bus ride to the airport is ridiculous and the ridership numbers show it. This is the result of the "run Metro like a business" mindset that Shirley "Pimp My Resume" DeLibero introduced and Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson is continuing. They both failed to realize they are running a public transit agency financed by sales tax and federal funds. Why? Because transit is by nature a money losing operation, attempting to run it like a business has so far run it into the ground.

[ig2ba]

Charging $10 per trip on a subway/commuter rail style express service to the Airport would be reasonable and ideal. Charging $15 for a bus ride to the airport is ridiculous and the ridership numbers show it. This is the result of the "run Metro like a business" mindset that Shirley "Pimp My Resume" DeLibero introduced and Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson is continuing. They both failed to realize they are running a public transit agency financed by sales tax and federal funds. Why? Because transit is by nature a money losing operation, attempting to run it like a business has so far run it into the ground.

Based on these ridership numbers, at this point, what kind of ridership would we expect to the airport on a subway? 500/day? Being very generous, 2000/day? Is this likely to increase drastically in the next 10 years? In 2020, being generous, would we expect 4000/day?

It's a good thing that we can run a little experiment like this before we make a mistake of building something too expensive too soon. Heck, drop the price down to $3 for a few months and see what kind of ridership we get on that one. It'd be a relatively low-cost experiment and I'd be really curious to see what kind of ridership it gets.

[Jax]

I think this is great, but I live near the light rail so I can walk to Museum District Station, take the rail to Downtown Transit Center, and then take the bus to the airport. I'm glad ridership is good, I was worried they would cancel it. Before this service existed I used to always avoid IAH if possible. I wish they had the same type of service to Hobby.

[Highway6]

Yah.. 30 roundtrip is pricey... but...

It's still significantly cheaper than the $45 one-way that YellowCab online just quoted me it would cost to get to IAH from downtown.

It's also cheaper than airport parking if you're gone more than 3 days.

And I'm assuming its lot's more pleasant a 30 minute trip from downtown than taking the other bus options that include transfers and take about 75 minutes.

Lastly.. it's cheaper than the 30 minute Gatwick Express (29 miles vs 22 miles from IAH to downtown) into Victoria station ( and the rest of the Tube) which costs about $25 one way ( or $45 round trip ) for the cheap seats, and $70 round trip for the comfy class seats.

EDIT: I'm half wrong about the airport parking.. I was only figuring the $8 a day terminal parking.... guess there is the $5 a day BFE parking lots... but then you have to calculate wait time and tram time.

[RedScare]

Charging $10 per trip on a subway/commuter rail style express service to the Airport would be reasonable and ideal. Charging $15 for a bus ride to the airport is ridiculous and the ridership numbers show it. This is the result of the "run Metro like a business" mindset that Shirley "Pimp My Resume" DeLibero introduced and Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson is continuing. They both failed to realize they are running a public transit agency financed by sales tax and federal funds. Why? Because transit is by nature a money losing operation, attempting to run it like a business has so far run it into the ground.

You've piqued my interest. What kind of cost to build and ridership do you envision for this subway/commuter rail system that you propose? How do you think it would stack up under the FTA's funding mechanisms?

To lambaste METRO for the horrid waste of money that the airport shuttle causes, then to turn right around and suggest that a Billion dollar capital expenditure for rail is a wise move sounds incredibly backwards. It is the type of argument I would expect from the posters who judge transit on how "urban" it looks, not from one who actually makes reasonable critiques of METRO, as you usually do.

[Houston19514]

Too bad they couldn't foresee these horrible results. Or in Metro speak, wonderful, expectation beating results!

Hopefully Houston195?? will find this thread. He/she argued me to the death about Metro's ridership projections for this service. I'd like to tell that person they were right, the projections were 75 people per day, not the 100 I had said.

They are beating their projections for their seventh month in service. That does not mean that they only projected 75 riders per day, period; forever. Don't you imagine they would project growth in ridership as the service is established and becomes more widely-known? Show me any support for your claim of any long-term projection of 100 riders per day. You never have done so and I am guessing you still cannot.

So how do you get downtown to pick it up?

bus, taxi, metro rail, friends

[MetroMogul]

You've piqued my interest. What kind of cost to build and ridership do you envision for this subway/commuter rail system that you propose? How do you think it would stack up under the FTA's funding mechanisms?

To lambaste METRO for the horrid waste of money that the airport shuttle causes, then to turn right around and suggest that a Billion dollar capital expenditure for rail is a wise move sounds incredibly backwards. It is the type of argument I would expect from the posters who judge transit on how "urban" it looks, not from one who actually makes reasonable critiques of METRO, as you usually do.

Ah, I never said to actually build it, I said the charge for such a service would be reasonable if such already existed. Personally, I don't like that Metro is allowed to go forward with it's current billion dollar rail expansion plan while throwing money away on gimmicks like the MAD and the delayed QL service. I'm not against urban rail in general, but Metro needs to drastically overhaul it's current bus system before investing in costly rail services.

Houston195??, for such an expenditure in land leasing (or ownership), mass marketing, and costly operation of the service, I'd think Metro would hope for more than 100 riders per day on DAY 1. The fact that they are happy to have 98 riders per day after seven months is pathetic. The fact that you can defend such a costly waste of money is sad and I'd think you'd want your one cent sales tax spent providing service to PEOPLE, not having empty buses running up and down the freeway. I don't care what long range plans are; how can you justify NOW the fact that expensive 55 passenger buses are carrying 1 and 1/2 passengers per trip. That is a waste in any industry.

If they proceed at the current rate, by 14 months, they should average 200 riders per day and perhaps nearly four people per bus. Wow. I support a non-stop service to the Airport, however, I don't support a greedy, wasteful grab at business dollars (which they'll never get because your average business traveler is not going to ride the famously unreliable Metro, no matter how "good" the service claims to be) while ignoring a segment (lowly airport employees) that would actually ride such a service, IF IT WEREN'T 15 DOLLARS!!!!! Metro is shamelessly trying to turn a profit on this service (which isn't their mission) and they are failing miserably at it.

[VicMan]

I think that METRO should have both a light rail service and a rapid service (maybe initially bus, maybe initially rail) to the airport.

Where do most of the airport employees live? I don't have statistics, but I would imagine most live in north Houston. Maybe a light rail from Northline to Greenspoint to the airport (Airline Drive and then Greens Road?)

[CoolBuddy06]

So how do you get downtown to pick it up?

bus, taxi, metro rail, friends

Why will a friend that will take you to and from DTC not take you to and from IAH? And will I pack my bag and suitcase to hop on 2/3 buses to DTC just because paying 30 bucks round trip to IAH excites me? That service just wont fly in Houston. Even out of town business people will prefer taxi, because they will probably end up taking taxi after they got DTC.

[N Judah]

In fact, subway funding to IAH is likely in the stimulus package now.

That would be neat. I really thought the stimulus package would be more transit-friendly.

[Houston19514]

Why will a friend that will take you to and from DTC not take you to and from IAH? And will I pack my bag and suitcase to hop on 2/3 buses to DTC just because paying 30 bucks round trip to IAH excites me? That service just wont fly in Houston. Even out of town business people will prefer taxi, because they will probably end up taking taxi after they got DTC.

Ummm, because the DTC is, perhaps two miles away rather than twenty and your friend has to go to work? Nobody said anything about paying 30 bucks for a round trip to IAH exciting anyone. The concept (that other posters have already mentioned) is that you would save more than the $30 in parking fees at the airport. Don't be ridiculous. And nobody said anything about hoping on 2/3 buses. Obviously, if that is your situation, you're probably better off taking a different mode of transit to the airport.

I personally think they have priced it a bit too high. Ten Dollars would be a LOT more palatable, IMO. I don't know if it will be successful or not. I hope it will because I think we need to have a good, regular, express transit service from IAH to downtown.

And I give credit to Metro for trying it. God forbid they experiment with new services. (and contrary to the lies about Metro posted by some, they are trying it out to see if they can make it successful. If it does not work out, they will cancel it. That is why they are operating it out of a temporary building on leased property.)

[Jax]

Why will a friend that will take you to and from DTC not take you to and from IAH? And will I pack my bag and suitcase to hop on 2/3 buses to DTC just because paying 30 bucks round trip to IAH excites me?

Obviously if you already live closer to IAH then you wouldn't use this service, but a lot of people live near downtown (including Midtown, Montrose, Medical Center, East End, West University, Bellaire, etc), and a lot of bus routes go through downtown transit center including the light rail. Also a lot of people work in and around Downtown, so I could see why this would be convenient to a lot of people. Maybe if it is successful they will have similar express busses from other transit centers in the future.

That service just wont fly in Houston. Even out of town business people will prefer taxi, because they will probably end up taking taxi after they got DTC.

I think the point of this article was to show that this has already flown in Houston. It has already exceeded expectations. People are using it (most likely not you though). If people are using it and Metro is happy with the ridership, why would you say it won't fly in Houston? If the article had said that ridership was low I might have agreed with you.

[memebag]

I think the point of this article was to show that this has already flown in Houston. It has already exceeded expectations. People are using it (most likely not you though). If people are using it and Metro is happy with the ridership, why would you say it won't fly in Houston? If the article had said that ridership was low I might have agreed with you.

I love the idea of it, but it's an expensive way to move 98 people per day. They're buying a lot of fuel and pumping out a lot of CO2 to shuttle air from downtown to the airport.

[Jax]

I have no idea what ridership numbers is required to make this service break even, but I assume Metro knows better than I do, and apparently it's worth continuing the service.

Yeah the CO2 thing kind of sucks. Obviously I'd rather see a rail line out there but it's not going to happen any time soon. At least if they can show that they can get decent ridership (I assume it will increase over time), it will most likely improve the chances of a rail line being built in the future. I'd rather see them using a smaller vehicle if possible but I guess my main point is: at least people are using it.

[memebag]

Yeah the CO2 thing kind of sucks. Obviously I'd rather see a rail line out there but it's not going to happen any time soon. At least if they can show that they can get a decent (I assume it will increase over time), it will most likely improve the chances of a rail line being built in the future.

They could reduce emissions and save money by just paying for taxi service for these 98 people

[Jax]

If they would subsidize taxis so I only had to pay $15 each way, yeah I'd gladly do that.

Taxis cost about $45 to IAH from Downtowns so for 100 people each to take their own taxi it would be $4,500. It would be interesting to know how much they pay for fuel and drivers, and how many riders per day are necessary for the service to become more cost effective than paying for individual tax rides. I assume that the ridership will increase over time.

[editor]

What a joke. I have no idea how this service would be beneficial to anybody other than someone who is flying here for business with the most strict expense policy ever.

You obviously have never traveled much for business. Or never worked for a very large company with tight controls on out-of-market travel expenses. Or never owned a business or been an entrepreneur. Three martini lunches haven't been the norm since the 80's.

Of course, the killer app is tourism, but every time this topic comes up a small, but very loud, group of HAIFers exclaims that Houston doesn't need or want tourism, as if they speak for the entire metropolis and its government.

Charging $10 per trip on a subway/commuter rail style express service to the Airport would be reasonable and ideal.

Upon what do you base the $10 figure? Why is that an ideal level? I'm not saying it is or it isn't, but it's certainly not in line with many other cities where I've taken the train from the airport to downtown. Some, yes, like London, New York, and Tokyo. But $10 is way above what one pays for Hong Kong, Chicago, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Washington DC, and others.

[roadrunner]

You obviously have never traveled much for business. Or never worked for a very large company with tight controls on out-of-market travel expenses. Or never owned a business or been an entrepreneur. Three martini lunches haven't been the norm since the 80's.

Of course, the killer app is tourism, but every time this topic comes up a small, but very loud, group of HAIFers exclaims that Houston doesn't need or want tourism, as if they speak for the entire metropolis and its government.

I travel every week for business. I work for a very large company. If they made me take a bus around the city, I'd probably quit. I would say less than 5% of business travelers have restrictions that tight.

Tourists would most likely rent a car if they came to Houston. Why in the world would you try to visit Houston catching bus after bus in this city?

And honestly, wouldn't you pay an extra $15 to take a pleasant cab ride to catch a flight that would more than likely save you 30 min-1 hour if you would have tried to get to the transit center and then take this bus?

[Jax]

I travel every week for business. I work for a very large company. If they made me take a bus around the city, I'd probably quit. I would say less than 5% of business travelers have restrictions that tight.

What about entrepreneurs and small business owners who are trying to save money (especially with the downturn of the economy)? What about students and non-business people who need to get in and out of Houston for other purposes?