kylejack Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Does someone have a link to the report of farebox recovery for each individual route? I read through the report but can't seem to find it now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfastx Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 I do not know where to find farebox recovery for individual routes, but on the subject of ridership, the light rail extension has added about 10,000 new daily riders on the Red Line, and that number is only increasing. Total system ridership is also up to almost 300,000 daily, as high as it's been in quite some time. I expect bus ridership to increase starting this summer with the reimagining program kicking off, and an additional 15-20,000 more rail riders when the SE and E lines open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackie21love Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Does the 300,000 include bus? Per Wikipedia Beijing Subway is ranked the #1 ridership averaged 9.3 millions daily (bus not included)… I think Beijing population is roughly 3 times of greater Houston area. We still have a long way to go to make all parties aware the importance of subway/light rails to city development. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtterlyUrban Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 While I am happy to see ridership on the rise in absolute numbers, could these stats also mean than as a percent of total population that ridership is actually down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 That's a good point but I guess it has to depend on the population increases in these key metro riderships points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfastx Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 While I am happy to see ridership on the rise in absolute numbers, could these stats also mean than as a percent of total population that ridership is actually down? Much of our population growth is happening outside of METRO's service area. You'd think that with population increases, there'd automatically be public transit ridership increases that go along with that, but it hasn't been the case for the last ten years, ridership has stagnated over that time. When you have a piecemeal rail system with a disjointed bus system it is difficult to increase ridership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Much of our population growth is happening outside of METRO's service area. You'd think that with population increases, there'd automatically be public transit ridership increases that go along with that, but it hasn't been the case for the last ten years, ridership has stagnated over that time. When you have a piecemeal rail system with a disjointed bus system it is difficult to increase ridership. A good idea in concept, but the METRO service area has a footprint defined by statute, within which it gets some funding from sales tax revenue. It would make sense for METRO to be able to expand into areas that were beyond the sticks when it was formed decades ago. Unfortunately, those areas also seem to have a visceral abhorrence for anything called a "tax," instead preferring to worship the Money Fairy that magically creates and maintains infrastructure, with maybe, just maybe, a "user fee" if it really must (or if Those Icky People Who Just Need To Work Harder might be tempted to use it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_cuevas713 Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Wow 300,000? Where did you find that figure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfastx Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Wow 300,000? Where did you find that figure? It's the total daily ridership of our bus and rail system combined. Ridership numbers/reports are available on the APTA website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtterlyUrban Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 It's the total daily ridership of our bus and rail system combined. Ridership numbers/reports are available on the APTA website.I appologize, I went to the site but couldn't find the stat. So, I will ask the question......Is it 300,000 riders or "boardings"? Said another way, are we really speaking about 300,000 individual riders or 300,000 times someone got on a bus or train? (With bus transfers each counted as a "boarding") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I appologize, I went to the site but couldn't find the stat. So, I will ask the question......Is it 300,000 riders or "boardings"? Said another way, are we really speaking about 300,000 individual riders or 300,000 times someone got on a bus or train? (With bus transfers each counted as a "boarding") I would think that is boardings. It would be difficult to accurately count the number of individual riders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I would think that is boardings. It would be difficult to accurately count the number of individual riders. Tracking Q cards, you could get a rough estimate of riders as opposed to boardings. But you'd still have to count all the non-Q card riders, so it would be a composite number... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparrow Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Probably won't have much support here or politically for this suggestion, but the most ideal way to increase ridership would be if all rides were free*. The psychological impact of "free" is powerful. Before jumping all over the idea consider both transit rider and personal car driver. Rider benefits because his per ride cost is zero. Show up and go. Service is faster because no one needs to collect payment or swipe cards. METRO cuts cost by eliminating costs associated with bookkeeping and ticket generation. Personal car drivers benefit because more people will be inclined to ride transit if it is free thus reducing the number of cars on the road. Fewer cars means less accidents, shorter trip duration, faster travel speeds, less potholes, and more parking spaces available at your destination. *The trick is how to finance such a proposal. Would the state bump up the max sales tax rate? Additional car rental tax? Hotel tax? Property tax? Toll road funding? Advertising? FY 2014 was budgeted at $70M in farebox revenue--it's not a huge sum, but it's not insignificant enough to not be replaced by some means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Probably won't have much support here or politically for this suggestion, but the most ideal way to increase ridership would be if all rides were free*. The psychological impact of "free" is powerful. Before jumping all over the idea consider both transit rider and personal car driver. Rider benefits because his per ride cost is zero. Show up and go. Service is faster because no one needs to collect payment or swipe cards. METRO cuts cost by eliminating costs associated with bookkeeping and ticket generation. Personal car drivers benefit because more people will be inclined to ride transit if it is free thus reducing the number of cars on the road. Fewer cars means less accidents, shorter trip duration, faster travel speeds, less potholes, and more parking spaces available at your destination.*The trick is how to finance such a proposal. Would the state bump up the max sales tax rate? Additional car rental tax? Hotel tax? Property tax? Toll road funding? Advertising? FY 2014 was budgeted at $70M in farebox revenue--it's not a huge sum, but it's not insignificant enough to not be replaced by some means.Is there anywhere in the world where public transportation is free? Obviously they don't turn a profit but the ticket sales help fund them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Is there anywhere in the world where public transportation is free? Obviously they don't turn a profit but the ticket sales help fund them... It has been tried before. FWIW...here are the disadvantages from a wikipedia article on the subject... DisadvantagesSeveral large North American municipalities have attempted zero-fare systems, but many of these implementations have been unsuccessful. A 2002 National Center for Transportation Research report suggests that, while transit ridership does tend to increase, there are also some serious disadvantages:[3]A sharp increase in vandalism and hooliganismTransit vehicles turning into de facto homeless sheltersIn large transit systems, significant revenue shortfallsA significant increase in driver complaints and staff turnover, even though farebox-related arguments are eliminatedSlower service overall (not collecting fares has the effect of speeding boarding, but increased crowding tends to swamp out this effect)Declines in schedule adherenceIncreased costs in security and vehicle-maintenanceGeneral increase in local and state/provincial taxes (including for those who do not use the bus)This report suggests that, while ridership does increase overall, the ultimate goal of reducing emissions by enticing drivers to take transit instead is rarely met: because fare-free systems tend to attract large numbers of hooligans, vagrants and other "problem riders", zero-fare systems often have the effect of frightening potential riders back into their cars.[3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_public_transport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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