From The Highwayman:
Two new light rail lines have gotten off to slow start, according to early ridership figures from the Metropolitan Transit Authority, but officials and riders still hope the Green and Purple Line will meet expectations.
The two lines, connecting downtown with the East End along Harrisburg and with the Third Ward and southeast Houston neighborhoods along Scott, Wheeler and Martin Luther King, opened May 23.
With May 25 a holiday and May 26 commutes and jobs affected by Houston area flooding, officials didn’t have a normal commuting day until May 27. This provided the first opportunity for officials to gauge typical demand on a day when businesses are open and people are commuting for jobs, shopping and appointments.
For May 27-29, the ridership averages failed to meet expectations, Metro officials confirmed. According to early figures, there were an average of 4,600 boardings per day along the Green and Purple lines as well as the downtown area where the two routes share tracks. The three stations along Harrisburg for the Green Line combined averaged 861 boardings each day.
Ten of the Red Line stations each have more average daily boardings than the three shared downtown stations for the Green and Purple lines.
Prior to the lines opening, officials projected about 5,900 daily boardings, with many more riders flocking to the lines once the remainder of the Green Line past Altic opens next year, adding stations at 67th Street and the Magnolia Park Transit Center.
Officials said a number of factors contributed to the less-than-expected use.
“Heavy rain throughout the week combined with the absence of classes at Texas Southern University and the University of Houston, along with the absence of the highest ridership station on the Green Line, Magnolia Park Transit Center, had a dampening effect on overall ridership, pun intended,” Metro spokesman Jerome Gray said.
I would argue that there were no “normal commuting” days last week. I was actually in the office three days out of four that week, and downtown was seriously underpopulated. Most of my coworkers worked from home all week, on the advice of the corporate folks. I know we weren’t the only ones sitting it out. I don’t know how much of an effect that all had on the new lines’ ridership numbers, but it had to have had some effect. Let’s wait till we’ve had a truly “normal” week or two and then see what the tally looks like.
Very good points on the ridership piece. In fact one could argue that a “normal week” for the Purple Line and its potential ridership isn’t going to occur until August, when both UH and TSU begin the Fall semester. For the universities, the new rail lines opened during intercession, just one week after both schools had graduation. 50,000 people that would normally inhabit these campuses (including 12,000 resident students) were removed from the equation.
As a daily commuter that has used the Purple Line to get to work, I can affirm that ridership is beginning to pick up, albeit slowly. All judgement of these lines should be reserved until the new bus network is rolled out and full term classes are underway.