|
Post by Gokhan on Aug 16, 2012 11:23:32 GMT -8
On par with the Gold and Green Lines is not enough -- it needs to be on par with the Blue Line. What's strange is that from May to June it jumped from 11k to 16k but from June to July it only increased by 2k. Considering that Culver City was open for only ten days in June, opening of Culver City doesn't explain the June jump -- these numbers are averaged over the month. Therefore, it's a bit strange that the momentum of the ridership push dwindled so quickly. Also, recently the trains seem to be emptier than a few weeks ago. But I agree that the line is doing OK as far as ridership is concerned and I am also enjoing the empty seats as I use the line to commute to USC.
|
|
|
Post by bluelineshawn on Aug 16, 2012 15:38:23 GMT -8
On par with the Gold and Green Lines is not enough -- it needs to be on par with the Blue Line. What's strange is that from May to June it jumped from 11k to 16k but from June to July it only increased by 2k. Considering that Culver City was open for only ten days in June, opening of Culver City doesn't explain the June jump -- these numbers are averaged over the month. Therefore, it's a bit strange that the momentum of the ridership push dwindled so quickly. Also, recently the trains seem to be emptier than a few weeks ago. But I agree that the line is doing OK as far as ridership is concerned and I am also enjoing the empty seats as I use the line to commute to USC. I was surprised that July's ridership was so low based on my experience, although it sounds from your description like I may have experienced the peak. To me it sounds like while new riders are finding the line, some riders may be moving on. We've seen this before with the gold line, although for a variety of reasons I don't expect the same long term problems for Expo.
|
|
|
Post by wad on Aug 17, 2012 3:32:07 GMT -8
I think they need better bus connections I was at Culver City for two days this week. I have observed a way the station can handle an off-street bus transit center the way the land is configured now! (Take away the row of parking just below the north track.)
|
|
|
Post by tobias087 on Aug 20, 2012 0:00:35 GMT -8
I'm going to be a senior at USC, and my roommates and I decided to live downtown for this year, in anticipation of the Expo Line.
But, had I not been aware of the project for several years, and pushing them quite hard to do this, it's doubtful we would have. And I bet many of the students returning to USC hadn't considered downtown as a possibility, and certainly not the freshman. I would give it a year or 2 before USC has a steady population of students commuting from Downtown, and maybe Culver City as well.
But it sure feels good to be part of the first wave ;D
|
|
|
Post by davebowman on Aug 20, 2012 13:52:56 GMT -8
I'm guessing Expo Line ridership is down because people are on summer vacation and USC's summer session ended a couple weeks ago. I commute from Santa Monica to USC, and freeway traffic has been very light EB in the morning and relatively light WB in the evening.
International student orientation at USC begins today, and the fall semester begins next week, so let's see how that affects usage of the Expo Line.
|
|
|
Post by Gokhan on Sept 5, 2012 12:31:37 GMT -8
From my observations, there is a huge jump in Expo Line ridership in September. It looks like the current ridership is at least 22,000, if not more.
I don't know the reason but perhaps schools starting, USC starting, people buying new transit passes, and even the USC Football PR have helped.
But, then, perhaps it's just the high gas prices.
|
|
|
Post by bzcat on Sept 5, 2012 17:07:16 GMT -8
According to The Source, 8,000 fans took Expo to the USC game last saturday.
That's 8,000 each way so 16,000 boardings.
|
|
|
Post by jamesinclair on Sept 5, 2012 17:07:47 GMT -8
From my observations, there is a huge jump in Expo Line ridership in September. It looks like the current ridership is at least 22,000, if not more. I don't know the reason but perhaps schools starting, USC starting, people buying new transit passes, and even the USC Football PR have helped. But, then, perhaps it's just the high gas prices. Id bet large sums of money its school. Go to Boston and ride their light rail line in August and then again in September. Huge increase.
|
|
|
Post by Gokhan on Sept 5, 2012 17:20:13 GMT -8
According to The Source, 8,000 fans took Expo to the USC game last saturday. That's 8,000 each way so 16,000 boardings. This is actually really good. Remember that only 250 people were allowed from each platform. Therefore, this is 32 train loads of people, corresponding to 1 hour and 36 minutes of loading time after the game, if not more, given the 3-minute (6 minutes each direction) headways. Also, since most people who go to the game live near the campus or are visiting people living near the campus and therefore simply walk to the game via Trousdale Parkway, this is a really good percentage of the people who are actually commuting (driving or taking public transit) to the game.
|
|
|
Post by bluelineshawn on Sept 5, 2012 18:13:56 GMT -8
This is actually really good. Remember that only 250 people were allowed from each platform. Therefore, this is 32 train loads of people, corresponding to 1 hour and 36 minutes of loading time after the game, if not more, given the 3-minute (6 minutes each direction) headways. There are two stations within walking distance so you can probably reduce that time, although maybe not in half. 3-car trains can probably only hold 300 people or thereabouts.
|
|
|
Post by bluelineshawn on Sept 5, 2012 18:19:19 GMT -8
I'm going to be a senior at USC, and my roommates and I decided to live downtown for this year, in anticipation of the Expo Line. But, had I not been aware of the project for several years, and pushing them quite hard to do this, it's doubtful we would have. And I bet many of the students returning to USC hadn't considered downtown as a possibility, and certainly not the freshman. I would give it a year or 2 before USC has a steady population of students commuting from Downtown, and maybe Culver City as well. But it sure feels good to be part of the first wave ;D There are actually quite a few USC students living downtown from what I've read. I'm sure that you'll enjoy it!
|
|
|
Post by bluelineshawn on Sept 5, 2012 18:24:35 GMT -8
From my observations, there is a huge jump in Expo Line ridership in September. It looks like the current ridership is at least 22,000, if not more. I don't know the reason but perhaps schools starting, USC starting, people buying new transit passes, and even the USC Football PR have helped. But, then, perhaps it's just the high gas prices. That's great to hear. Thanks for the update. If so, Expo is already the second busiest light rail line in LA (in terms of riders/mile).
|
|
|
Post by Gokhan on Sept 7, 2012 9:41:37 GMT -8
Expo ridership has been really strong throughout the week this week. I haven't seen such strong ridership before on the Expo Line.
My guess for September is 22+k.
|
|
|
Post by Gokhan on Sept 14, 2012 17:34:03 GMT -8
Ridership in September and ridership in August are like day and night. This ridership increase has also been very consistent since September 1. I wouldn't be surprised if the September ridership is as high as 25,000. We will find out in a month.
August ridership should be posted on Monday and I expect it to be around 19,000.
|
|
|
Post by Gokhan on Sept 18, 2012 15:42:51 GMT -8
August ridership is 20k, which exceeded my expectations.
Since I've been observing a huge increase in ridership from August to September, I now expect the September ridership to be around 25k.
|
|
|
Post by jamesinclair on Sept 18, 2012 20:36:33 GMT -8
I estimated 19,000 for September, looks like I underguessed.
|
|
|
Post by carter on Sept 18, 2012 21:54:30 GMT -8
Given the heavy promotion/collaboration with USC football games, the most interesting number to track in September is going be the Saturday ridership, IMHO.
I'm curious to see what kind of jump it gets. Looks like it could be an extra 2-3K riders on average (only two home games in Sept.).
|
|
|
Post by Gokhan on Sept 19, 2012 9:56:26 GMT -8
Once again, we will see the most dramatic jump when the September numbers are reported in a month from now. Expect the ridership to be around 25,000, if not more, in September.
I also noticed today that the Culver City Station parking lot is now almost full to the capacity. In the near future, you might have to drive to La Cienega, of which the parking structure is still running less than half full.
I think the nice Metro Expo Line signs we had them put at Culver City may have helped the September ridership a lot. Marketing is equally important as the product you offer (think Apple, Inc, which is the marketing opportunist of all). I wouldn't be surprised if the new signs increased the ridership by 5,000 instantly (meaning in a month's timeframe). If only Expo Authority listened to us more...
|
|
|
Post by jamesinclair on Sept 19, 2012 17:58:32 GMT -8
Yup, so many transit planners forget about advertising.
Theres a reason this country runs on ads...it actually sort of works.
Do you think a transit agency ever sent out flyers to homes within 1/2 mile of a new transit stop advertising the service? Im going to guess no.
|
|
|
Post by LAofAnaheim on Sept 19, 2012 20:10:31 GMT -8
Yup, so many transit planners forget about advertising. Theres a reason this country runs on ads...it actually sort of works. Do you think a transit agency ever sent out flyers to homes within 1/2 mile of a new transit stop advertising the service? Im going to guess no. Are you sure they didn't? They send out construction notices to all homes/businesses affected within 1/2 mile per the Metro policy. Metro has done PLENTY of advertising on the Expo Line. Sometimes people in LA are ignorant to bypass transit service as either being 1) for the poor or 2) not for them. People in LA do have a bad perception of transit service always wishing "oh, I wish it was like New York, but we don't want big buildings and we need 7 story parking garages, etc..." If a service is convenient and deemed safe, people will take it. If those factors don't happen, it's harder to gain ridership. Metro cannot knock on each person's door to let them know "hey, you have a Metro line here...". It takes research by the individual user, they can't be spoon fed everything. As more people start using the system, and it expands, a faster word-of-mouth spreads about how convenient the system becomes. Metro has done plenty of advertising. And unlike other cities, you actually see Metro billboards around LA. Also, the buses themselves plenty advertise Expo Line.
|
|
|
Post by matthewb on Sept 20, 2012 7:10:36 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by masonite on Sept 20, 2012 8:18:30 GMT -8
I think they could probably focus efforts more locally. They have expensive radio, newspaper, and stadium advertising, but often people who are near stations whether they live there or work there or just entertain themselves there don't know about service, especially new service like Expo. Local signage, programs for businesses and overall more grass roots efforts would probably be beneficial in my opinion and I wish Metro would focus a little more there. For example there is still no sign on the 10 for Metro service. Just that sign would go a long way.
|
|
|
Post by Gokhan on Sept 28, 2012 10:34:16 GMT -8
Once again, we will see the most dramatic jump when the September numbers are reported in a month from now. Expect the ridership to be around 25,000, if not more, in September. I also noticed today that the Culver City Station parking lot is now almost full to the capacity. In the near future, you might have to drive to La Cienega, of which the parking structure is still running less than half full. I think the nice Metro Expo Line signs we had them put at Culver City may have helped the September ridership a lot. Marketing is equally important as the product you offer (think Apple, Inc, which is the marketing opportunist of all). I wouldn't be surprised if the new signs increased the ridership by 5,000 instantly (meaning in a month's timeframe). If only Expo Authority listened to us more... It looks like the very strong Expo Line ridership in early September died down near mid-September. Perhaps it was due to people trying the Expo Line for the first time and they got frustrated because of the slow-speed issues, breakdowns, crawl near Dorsey High School / Farmdale Avenue, and other reasons. Therefore, I revise my September ridership estimate from 25,000 to 22,000.
|
|
|
Post by Gokhan on Sept 28, 2012 13:44:04 GMT -8
According to Metro, the number of people who took the Expo Line to the second USC football game in Coliseum was between 7k and 8k. Considering that the stadium attendance in the second game was almost 10% less, it looks like about the same percentage of people took the line to the game.
|
|
|
Post by Gokhan on Oct 16, 2012 11:52:02 GMT -8
September ridership is 20,656, up less than 1,000 from the August ridership.
The strong ridership I saw in early September died down after the first week or so. It looks like some people are trying the line and then going back to their cars.
I think Farmdale is hurting the ridership quite a bit. Trains are going very slow in that entire area, giving the impression of an overall slow line. I wish they would get rid of that 10 MPH speed limit there.
|
|
|
Post by masonite on Oct 16, 2012 12:45:44 GMT -8
September ridership is 20,656, up less than 1,000 from the August ridership. The strong ridership I saw in early September died down after the first week or so. It looks like some people are trying the line and then going back to their cars. I think Farmdale is hurting the ridership quite a bit. Trains are going very slow in that entire area, giving the impression of an overall slow line. I wish they would get rid of that 10 MPH speed limit there. I def. think the slow speed is the biggest hurdle to better ridership. The reliability of the line seems to have improved (although I don't ride during the week so I really don't know other than impression). Lets face it, the line is pretty slow east of La Brea. Hopefully, they can tweak some things to make it faster, but I am not sure. Farmdale really should have been a pedestrian bridge as it is a time suck the line can't afford.
|
|
|
Post by LAofAnaheim on Oct 16, 2012 14:00:26 GMT -8
September ridership is 20,656, up less than 1,000 from the August ridership. The strong ridership I saw in early September died down after the first week or so. It looks like some people are trying the line and then going back to their cars. I think Farmdale is hurting the ridership quite a bit. Trains are going very slow in that entire area, giving the impression of an overall slow line. I wish they would get rid of that 10 MPH speed limit there. Farmdale does suck, but it's eons better than the 23rd street to Pico Station problem. This is where people put their heads down in shame and remind newbies (sorry, its the junction, etc..). We all hate Farmdale, but at least the train continues through the intersection and there is full priority. The 23rd Street to Pico station averages 4 minutes, which is beyond ridiculous. It's closer in distance than Crenshaw and Western which can take 2.5 minutes. Sometimes 23rd to Pico takes 7 minutes. Gokhan, you don't take the Expo Line east/north of Jefferson station much, right?
|
|
|
Post by Gokhan on Oct 16, 2012 14:51:27 GMT -8
Gokhan, you don't take the Expo Line east/north of Jefferson station much, right? No, I ride between Culver City and Vermont.
|
|
|
Post by LAofAnaheim on Oct 16, 2012 15:07:07 GMT -8
Ok, once you ride the 23rd Street to Pico station segment you'll realize why more people complain and shake their heads to that junction segment and not Farmdale. Farmdale sucks, but most people in the train who don't know the legal reason, think its just a grade station and naturally slow (i.e. Mariom Way). Sometimes between 23rd to Pico you are sitting for a couple of minutes with no cross traffic and that's due to junction delays. The train is suppose to take 29 min betwween 7th Street to Culver City. It's this segment that makes your complete journey 29 min to 35 min. I've waited for 8 minutes once. Never had a delay like this at Farmdale. Average time between the two stations is 4 minutes, for what should be 2 minutes. It just moves slowly across Farmdale, but its moving and speeds up quickly. The complete opposite is true of the junction segment.
|
|
|
Post by Gokhan on Oct 17, 2012 10:30:29 GMT -8
Westbound trains are usually about a couple of minutes late to the Vermont Station and they usually make up about a couple of minutes west of Vermont, and the travel time to Culver City varies between 28 - 31 minutes, 30 minutes on the average. I don't know how much delay there is at the junction for the eastbound trains; therefore I cannot say much about the eastbound trains. But for the westbound trains, Flower St segment is usually OK, from my indirect experience I described.
Typical time between street-running stations is 3 minutes. It would be really difficult to make it in 2 minutes between the stations in street-running sections, as the speed limit is 25 - 35 MPH and there will be some lights in between. Even if the train caught all greens, covering one mile in 2 minutes is very difficult with <= 35 MPH, station dwelling, acceleration, and deceleration.
|
|