Rail ridership exceeds expectations, study says

A study of rail-based public transit systems in nine U.S. cities found that ridership surpassed expectations in nearly every case and that rail systems boosted redevelopment around transit stations.

The 18 month old study, "Rail Transit Works: Light Rail Success Stories from Across the Country," conducted by the MaryPIRG Foundation, analyzes the popularity of transit systems in six states and Washington, D.C.

Among the findings:

• When Denver extended light rail service to two suburbs, Littleton and Englewood, ridership in the first year was 40 percent higher than projected.

• In car-dependent Los Angeles, many commuters have turned to the subway. Planners expected 100,000 passengers daily on a new section of the Red Line and had to add cars when ridership rapidly reached 120,000 daily.

• St. Louis reintroduced rail service in 1993, decades after the city’s street-car lines closed. Ridership by the end of the first year was expected to be 12,000 passengers daily. Actual use was 3.5 times higher, with 44,000 daily riders.

• Salt Lake City's system, at time of the report, was transporting 50% more riders than anticipated.

The report also found that people traveling via rail are not simply people who switched from buses when rail became available, according to surveys of rail passengers in three cities.

Nearly 50% of rail passengers in Los Angeles had a car available for the trip on which they were surveyed.

In Denver, 75% of passengers had access to a car but chose rail instead. In Dallas, 59% of passengers that own cars would have driven alone if light rail were not available.

For more information on the study visit, www.marypirg.org