Light rail ridership exceeds expectation (Phoenix, Tempe: 2009, college, bus)

[HX_Guy]

Good stuff!


Light rail ridership exceeds expectation

Light rail ridership exceeds expectation

51 comments by Sean Holstege - Feb. 18, 2009 12:29 PM
The Arizona Republic

The area's new light rail system surpassed ridership expectations in its first full month, Metro boss Rick Simonetta reported Wednesday.

Metro carried an average 30,600 passengers on weekdays in January, the first full month of service. That's good news for light rail boosters, because the region promised 26,000 average weekday riders after a full year of service to justify getting hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants.

Surprisingly, Metro carried more people on Saturdays,an average of 31,300. That's more than 10,000 over year-end projections.

Another surprise for rail operators was that park-and-ride lots are less than two-thirds full. Planners feared Metro would have a problem with lots filling up immediately, a common experience with other rail openings.

Overall, 911,883 people boarded a light rail train in January.

[ArizonaBear]

I rode the Light Rail today. I blew the engine in my truck a couple of weeks back hence my using public transit a lot recently.

[HX_Guy]

Nice, how was it?

I snapped a couple pictures today around 4:30...looked like it's getting a lot of use by the ASU crowd.

[zenkonami]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

Nice, how was it?

I snapped a couple pictures today around 4:30...looked like it's getting a lot of use by the ASU crowd.

[azriverfan.]

I rode it last Friday. It was wonderful. I caught it in Tempe. It was completely packed. It was a nice feeling as it made Phoenix seem somewhat urban for the first time.

[chandlerguy]

Ridership may be up because useful alternatives like the red line bus were cancelled, and because ASU kids are being coerced into using it. Surely nobody would use that trolley car if they had a real choice.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by chandlerguy

Ridership may be up because useful alternatives like the red line bus were cancelled, and because ASU kids are being coerced into using it. Surely nobody would use that trolley car if they had a real choice.

Although I caught the light rail in Tempe, the vast majority of the people riding it were not college students. I've seen a lot of elderly people ride it.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by chandlerguy

Ridership may be up because useful alternatives like the red line bus were cancelled, and because ASU kids are being coerced into using it. Surely nobody would use that trolley car if they had a real choice.

Speak for yourself.

I enjoy riding the Light Rail and I am neither a college kid nor a 'Senior Citizen'.

[nickw252]

Hopefully they'll get the extensions up soon. I read that Minneapolis just did an extension on their light rail and it has far exceeded all expectations also.

[ArizonaBear]

One thing that many people may not be aware of is the private automobile (or truck/SUV) is losing its perch as a status symbol hence in part why decent rapid transit may be coming back in vogue.