Login
or
Register
Home
»
Trains Magazine
»
Forums
»
Transit
»
Public Transit Ridership in the United States
Edit post
Edit your reply below.
Post Body
Enter your post below.
<p>[quote user="schlimm"]</p> <p>As I said before, you are always right. My quote is directly from Metra. It says exactly what it says. Metra carries a passenger load about 1/2 of that the major expressways do. Is that hard to understand. The reason that figure is significant is because most people who commute from the suburbs to downtown do so via the expressways, Metra or suburban Pace buses. Most metra commuters ride from a suburb to downtown, not to an intermediate point. The suggestion that anything more than a tiny fraction ride bicycles or walk [sic!] to make that journey is beyond comment. [/quote]</p> <p>Speaking of cherry picking the numbers, you chose to focus on Metra and have ignored CTA. Metra is only part of the public transit picture for the Chicago area.</p> <p>If you think that I am always right, how come you keep pushing back. Or do you mean to say that I think that I am always right when in fact I am wrong.</p> <p><strong>Metra does say that its load factors are equal to half of those of the major expressways. What does that mean?</strong> Does it mean that a passenger on the train is equal to a car or does it mean that a passenger on the train is equal to the average number of passengers in a car. There is a significant difference according to the national statistics.</p> <p>Nationally 86.1 per cent of commuters drive to work and school. Ten per cent ride in a car pool (7.8 in a two person car pool, 1.3 per cent in a three person car pool, and .9 per cent in the four or more person car pool).</p> <p>Metra would have to have performed some sophisticated studies to determine the number of people on the expressways who are commuting vs. those who are traveling for other purposes. Again, the number could be somewhat different for Chicago and its environs, but it probably is not a significant outlier.</p> <p><span>"That is different than saying that 50 per cent of the people who commute into downtown Chicago ride Metra or public transit or other modes of transport, including walking, riding a bicycle, etc." As you can see, I did not say that anything more than a tiny fraction ride bicycles or walk. I just pointed out that these methods could be an option for those who are not on Metra. They are nationwide. </span></p> <p>Nation wide 4.5 per cent of commuters walk, ride a bicycle or motorcycle, or use other means to commute to work. In the Chicago area, I suspect not many people opt for a bicycle or motorcycle during the winter months, just as not many people choose to walk or ride a bicycle in Dallas during the summer months.</p> <p>So rather than looking up the figures you just say that it is beyond comment. How does that add to the conversation, which mercifully is at an end from my perspective.</p>
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag
Update Reply
Join our Community!
Our community is
FREE
to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Login »
Register »
Search the Community
Newsletter Sign-Up
By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our
privacy policy
More great sites from Kalmbach Media
Terms Of Use
|
Privacy Policy
|
Copyright Policy