Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't know, VRE looks pretty comprehensive just not popular enough to break even
It looks like VRE suffers from the same ills that virtually all of Amtrak suffers outside of its owned/operated lines in the North East. But speaking of being popular, what would be deemed popular? Has the ridership been on the rise, or has been falling?
From news reports ridership goes up, then drops, then goes up, then drops. I'd have to look at the long-term trends. It hasn't met expectations from when it was first proposed.
Its up to 20,000 , with Extra service or hourly service it could grow to 100,000 easily....same with MARC. Look at the Northeastern systems , higher ridership and better service...
From news reports ridership goes up, then drops, then goes up, then drops. I'd have to look at the long-term trends. It hasn't met expectations from when it was first proposed.
Let me guess... ridership has fluctuated mainly with gas prices. And if that is the case, expect the services to become more popular. That has also been the case with TRE (a similar commuter rail service in DFW area). At least TRE runs on Saturdays as well (fewer services). The problem, again, is in being able to plan with limited services. I ALWAYS take TRE to see the Mavericks play. In fact, they have to run special trains on those days from that station (I assume similar situation exists for Dallas Stars as well, but to a lesser extent).
Trains don't look very attractive alternative right now because people still believe gas prices will come down. Think of what it would be like if New York didn't have a proper commuter rail network. Speaking of which, I'm in the process of planning a trip to London (UK) in October and EVERYTHING is around the train services in the area, right out of Heathrow onto Paddington Express and everywhere else. I don't have to consider driving anywhere, and prefer to avoid anything on the road (lest I were to enjoy those traffic jams). If I were to visit France or Germany, I wouldn't fly... Eurostar really works!
It is always about convenience. People generally don't want half baked potatoes.
Exactly , i'm not going to use a service that keeps me from leaving for work whenever i want or home whenever i want. With VRE and MARC your limited to peak hr commuting , in the Peak hr direction. Up intill 2003 , it was the same for the Northeastern systems but that changed and ridership climbed by as much as 50,000 on some systems....
Exactly , i'm not going to use a service that keeps me from leaving for work whenever i want or home whenever i want. With VRE and MARC your limited to peak hr commuting , in the Peak hr direction. Up intill 2003 , it was the same for the Northeastern systems but that changed and ridership climbed by as much as 50,000 on some systems....
And it's not realistic to expect any mass transit system to norm its schedule to that of thousands of riders, some of whose work schedules can be somewhat random.
There was poster in Work and Employment, from NYC, several months ago complaining that mass transit got him to work either too late or too early. That will always be a problem, especially so with more and more flex time type schedules.
Earlier: I don't know whether the ridership fluctuates with gas prices or not. The reality is that, even with all the complaining, the DC area has a multitude of options for getting to work, from trains, to Metro, to driving, to van pools to slug lines.
What I would like to see is that the proponents of mass transit finally admit that it gets massive subsidies from those who buy gasoline. In MD roughly $.30 of each dollar of fuel tax goes to the Metro system which the vast majority of the state's residents will never use. In addition, the Motor Fuels Fund is raided yearly to balance the General Fund budget. An activity that Governors from both parties have participated in.
Many motorists don't realize how much they benefit from a rail line helping to keep other vehicles off the road. In many cases the cost to taxpayers of providing the service is well below that of adding new lanes to handle the traffic.
That was the latest I could find. The FY 2011 audit wouldn't be out yet. What do you believe would have changed much. They would have had to increase ridership by many times, along with acquiring new rolling stock, which would have meant more capital expense.
Oops, here's the FY 2010 audit submitted last November. The operating loss was only $22M.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
