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>Your point? I was talking about suburban commuters. CTA provides mass transit almost exclusively within the city of Chicago. The CTA carries some suburban riders, but only from Evanson and Wilmette (most take the parallel Metra line), Skokie and some who park at the Cumberland stop near O'hare on the Blue line. But you again miss or choose to ignore the point, which is very simple. Metra carries many commuters from the suburbs to downtown, about 50% as many as the expressways do. That is a lot and it takes a great load off those expressways or reduces the very expensive/impossible need to build more lanes. </p> <p>Your metric of 4.5 or 5% is absurd because it is almost meaningless. Why? The total of commuters includes folks who live very close to their workplace or where there is no readily accessible transit, if any at all A friend down in Urbana (UIUC) walked to work daily, about four miles round trip for many years. Why? He chose to because it was close and good exercise. Where I reside I can drive the five miles to my clinic or walk or bicycle (which I do often in milder weather). There is no transit option. If there were, I would use it. When I still taught, I drove the 106 mile round trip because there was no transit option. If there had been, I would have used it. For many people, there is no transit option, even in the Chicago area. You cite your number as though it were evidence that few people would choose transit, "the fact that people will not use it if they have a choice" when it proves no such thing. To prove that you would have to compare the number of commuters in an area where a viable transit option exists with the number who use it to commute. that would be very hard to do. I chose the Metra figures because they give a rough estimate of users who have a choice and roughly 1/3 choose Metra, probably much more since many on the expressway are not going to downtown Chicago. [/quote]</p> <p>But the topic is public transit. Not just suburban commuter trains. When I quote DART numbers, I include the whole ball of wax. The national figures cover all modes of transport. That is important if one want to get a total picture.</p> <p>Actually, the percentage of folks who opt for public transit is not my figure. It is published by the U.S. DOT, which you have chosen to ignore. I said that the figure is a strong indicator that most people have not chosen public transit. And it tells me that most people in the U.S., outside of selected metro areas, will not use it.</p> <p>I misspoke about the per Metra's ridership, and I have corrected the previous postings. Metra claims that its load factor is equal to approximately 50 per cent of the load factor on the expressways that parallel its lines in its service area to downtown Chicago. As noted in a previous post, exactly what that means is difficult to say.</p> <p>One could say that the DART Red Line, which runs from downtown Dallas to Plano carries 50 per cent of the traffic on Central Expressway, which is an express way that parallels its red line. But that would overlook the traffic on Hillcrest, Preston Road, Midway Road, Greenville Avenue, etc., all of which parallel Central Expressway and the rail line. </p> <p>As I have noted, people in urban areas make greater use of transit than people in smaller cities, towns, village, and rural areas. Equally important, I have provided figures from the American Public Transportation Association. You have chosen to ignore them; instead giving us your personal experience that is irrelevant.</p> <p>Clearly, part of using public transit is convenience. But even in Dallas, which has the best developed public transit system in the southwest, even a significant majority of people who live close to a bus or rail line do not use it. One can see this is the demographics and the use data.</p> <p>A commute of 106 miles a car must have been tiring. Well, not to worry. We Texans appreciate that kind of long distance commuting. Must have burned up a lot of our oil in the process. Or did you specify that it come only from overseas? If you really believed in public transit, you would have moved closer to a transit line. I did! I rode the Numbers 36 and 184 buses in Dallas for more than 30 years.</p> <p>Absurd, meaningless, .......This terms are not necessary and don't add to the conversation. If you disagree you can say so without using inflammatory words. </p> <p> </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