Chance to win tickets during light rail 1 yr celebration (Mesa: construction, subsidized)

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by cmist

I was on it at rush hour coming home. The Mesa stop had a completely empty train at 5:30pm but I understand its not exactly a hot spot to be jumping on going inwards at that time. I couldnt really assess much else from that point because that was the day the accident held up the rail line.

I took it one more time during the weekend to go to Tempe Towne Lake and it was the same thing. Montebello had a practically empty train sitting there waiting to take off, and at the point where we returned to Montebello there weren't many left on board to exit. There was a good amount of people... just less than any of the others since it was the end of the line and not carrying passengers looking to ride beyond.

I'm sure my 2x shouldnt be construed as hard core facts, although I believe it be accurate that the furthest stops on each end were lightest and it got busier in the middle. In any case, I probably will never be up with the chickens to get a reading on morning commuters, so I'll have to take your word on that one.

In all fairness: once the LR is punched out to Mesa Dr (near the Mormon Temple); I suspect that ridership will only increase. Note I would be 10-12 minutes away by foot from that station

[cmist]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

In all fairness: once the LR is punched out to Mesa Dr (near the Mormon Temple); I suspect that ridership will only increase. Note I would be 10-12 minutes away by foot from that station

No complaints here. I'm all for extensions and PRONTO. I also know my in house train bar is a dream, and even further from reality once it stops near the temple.

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by cmist

No complaints here. I'm all for extensions and PRONTO. I also know my in house train bar is a dream, and even further from reality once it stops near the temple.

No chance what so ever for a bar on light rail; but there are some cities that have a "bar car" that serves alcohol at the bar on some commuter trains...

[cmist]

Originally Posted by fcorrales80

No chance what so ever for a bar on light rail

Quit rubbing it in!

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

I rode on the LR on its first day-----------and, many times since

Are you going to try to win a "golden ticket" on the 19th? I'm going to buy an all day pass and tell others I know to do the same. Hmmm, we have platinum passes and I wonder if that would disqualify us because it was written that 6 platinum pass users will be among the 30 to win...

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by cmist

Quit rubbing it in!

LOL, trust me that is a good idea at first impression; imagine ridership numbers then!

[HX_Guy]

Originally Posted by KarmaPhx

I have a really hard time believing 42,000 people ride it each day, any evidence to back that up?

Everytime I have seen the LR it's been mostly empty.

I've wondered about this...is it 42,000 boardings or 42,000 people? As in..does each person count twice? I don't think they do...I think I remember reading that they take into account that a person has to get on and off, so a boarding and a de-boarding is counted as one.

However...the same person getting on more then once will be counted as two people...or three or four. For example, if I take the train to a Suns game...the trip to the game is counted as 1 and the trip back home or to my parked car is counted as 1. I'm pretty sure that's how it's counted, so really those numbers are probably closer to 1/2 as most people will ride the train back to their starting destination at the end of the day/event.

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

I've wondered about this...is it 42,000 boardings or 42,000 people? As in..does each person count twice? I don't think they do...I think I remember reading that they take into account that a person has to get on and off, so a boarding and a de-boarding is counted as one.

However...the same person getting on more then once will be counted as two people...or three or four. For example, if I take the train to a Suns game...the trip to the game is counted as 1 and the trip back home or to my parked car is counted as 1. I'm pretty sure that's how it's counted, so really those numbers are probably closer to 1/2 as most people will ride the train back to their starting destination at the end of the day/event.

The way metro says they have counted is via transactions at the kiosks. Because they record infrared boardings of people on the train, those numbers would produce very high "ridership" that would give too high an impression of usage. So, one all day pass is one rider, one tap of the platinum pass is one usage (in which case a rider is counted more than once), a one way ticket is one, and when you buy a multi-day pass that pass is counted for each day even if it is not "used" everyday by the purchaser. So actual "boardings" are not counted.

In Seattle, they are having trouble with reliable numbers as their cars do not all have sensors to count boardings and they do not count transactions at kiosks what so ever because their transit passes and ORCA cards are very "weird" and harder to track between each independent system unlike Valley Metro which has a user wide one system tracking method. A comparison of systems however, Seattle only counts 16,000 boardings daily...much lower for a transit system that is used at a much greater rate than Phoenix'. One reason they suspect low numbers in Seattle are that their busses and street cars charge much cheaper fares, the light rail line wasn't the best alignment for the city, and there was a lot of protest in the city to spend nearly 2.6 billion for a 14 mile line compared to 1.4 billion for a 22 mile line in Phoenix. Even if we did have to cut our ridership numbers in half, we'd still have greater ridership than Seattle's count.

At the October 21st meeting, Metro reported that 90% or rides are "recovered" or that 10% of people are not paying and this is a number that is counted based on fare inspectors catching those without paid fares.

[Tanque Verde]

Originally Posted by KarmaPhx

I have a really hard time believing 42,000 people ride it each day, any evidence to back that up?

Everytime I have seen the LR it's been mostly empty.

I live in east mesa so the train works for me when I need a ride home from Skyharbor. I still got another ten miles to go when I get off at the last stop so I usually bum a ride from one of my neighbors. The train always looks pretty full to me plus they're running four car trains ( I think ) instead of two car trains.

One day when it was real busy, three or four blind people got off the train at my stop and wandered out into traffic on main st. The sound of their white canes tapping away on the asphalt drew my attention to them so I hollered at em to come towards my voice. That got em turned around & headed in the right direction.

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by Tanque Verde

I live in east mesa so the train works for me when I need a ride home from Skyharbor. I still got another ten miles to go when I get off at the last stop so I usually bum a ride from one of my neighbors. The train always looks pretty full to me plus they're running four car trains ( I think ) instead of two car trains.

One day when it was real busy, three or four blind people got off the train at my stop and wandered out into traffic on main st. The sound of their white canes tapping away on the asphalt drew my attention to them so I hollered at em to come towards my voice. That got em turned around & headed in the right direction.

They must not have the "chirping" crossing signal and lights in Mesa. Good think you where there...

They run 3 car trains not four. I did see them testing four car long trains but haven't seen any in everyday use. Metro does decrease wait times when it gets busy and instead of every 10 minutes trains seem to come every 5 minutes or so...