Posted on 01/27/2009 6:07:35 PM PST by CedarDave
Weekday Rail Runner ridership has dipped by about 1,000 a day since Jan. 5 — the post-holiday season — but operators say a true gauge of daily use probably won't emerge for some time.
Daily passenger boarding numbers provided by the Mid-Region Council of Governments also show, as might be expected, that the stations at Downtown Albuquerque, Los Ranchos/Journal Center, Sandoval County/U.S. 550 and the two in Santa Fe are the most used. The numbers also show that on weekdays this month, there are close to 90 bicycle boardings a day.
With the Santa Fe leg of service opening Dec. 17, passenger traffic on the train ballooned, particularly on the weekends when Saturday and Sunday service was free until Jan. 4.
Weekday ridership also was as brisk during that time. From Dec. 17 to Jan. 2, weekday passenger boardings totaled 50,919, or an average of 5,092 a day, according to Council of Governments data. Weekdays when no service was provided, such as Christmas or New Year's, were not factored into the average.
Afterward, from Jan. 5 to 16, weekday passenger boardings averaged 3,919 a day.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
/sar
They always pretend these things will work. They never do. The taxpayer subsidizes them and they move on to the next failure.
PING to the NM list.
(FReepmail greyfoxx39 to be added or removed from the list)
“They always pretend these things will work. They never do. The taxpayer subsidizes them and they move on to the next failure.”
Sounds like just about every single idea a politician has ever come up with.
Why would anyone voluntarily choose to ride a train running on a fixed schedule on a fixed track, when they can ride private transportation on their own schedule and go exactly where they want to on a route of their own choosing?
These ideas never work out, as they try to bring back a day that has long since gone in most of America, when few had their own cars.
For the 16 trains per day (eight each way) that averages 245 persons per train. Revenue wise, it would be a maximum of $1,470 per train (actually less because of round trip, reduced fares, etc.). Gotta cost a WHOLE lot more than that to run it. (Estimated $26 million O&M costs per year — local taxpayers pay the rest.)
Monorail! Monorail!
Hmmmm..., that looks interesting. When I get out there to Sante Fe, I’ll have to take a ride on it. Perhaps the bike, the laptop and a trip to Albequerque and back again. I understand that they’ll have wireless on the trains for laptop users, which will be cool.
That’s not a bad price for round trip, a great way to go.
I sure do hope that the train service is built up in the United States. It’s a great way to travel...
That must be because they forgot to pay their PR/stats/lies department to inflate the ridership count...
When did the free fare promotion end?
Any apparent relationship with the drop in ridership.
All trains were free on the holiday weekends beginning December 20 through January 4. Passengers living in Santa Fe get free trips through March 17.
I suspect the price of gas being lower and relatively good weather the past couple weeks has more to do with it than a fare related drop.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.