urbanSTL

That poll reminded me of the bit in Daredevil about what color the new subway line should be.

roger wyoming II wrote:1) Will there be any way to track increase in usage of the Pine Street station before and after the Arcade opening?

Probably not. Metro's been pretty bad about releasing (and assumedly tracking) station specific ridership data. APTA reports monthly systemwide ridership data, and Metro reports annual systemwide ridership data, but there haven't been station specific totals reported for years. I think the last station specific data that was released was for the comprehensive TOD study that was completed on a station-by-station basis - and even that was only collected for a brief period and wasn't averaged over an entire year.

For a so-called "development" agency, you'd think they'd report such data more often so that employers, retailers, developers, etc... could have a clearer sense of transit trends and the way people in the region get around. MetroLink Ridership is up over 10% in the last 5 years, with much of that growth probably coming from the CWE station. Such data could help justify and encourage even more investment.

Hopefully they'll at the very least complete a detailed survey after the Boyle/Cortex Station opens to see how the station is performing and how much it has cannibalized from the CWE and Grand Stations.

Getting even more OT here, and completely unrelated to your questions RW, but here are the initial projections for the Boyle/Cortex Station that CMT included in their March 2014 sales pitch/slideshow:


The projections would put it right around the median for ridership - and seem pretty attainable considering the accelerating activity and investment in the immediate area. I wonder if Metro will re-route the 80, 42 or 14 to serve the Boyle/Cortex Station, which would also help boost ridership.

wabash wrote:

roger wyoming II wrote:1) Will there be any way to track increase in usage of the Pine Street station before and after the Arcade opening?

Probably not. Metro's been pretty bad about releasing (and assumedly tracking) station specific ridership data. APTA reports monthly systemwide ridership data, and Metro reports annual systemwide ridership data, but there haven't been station specific totals reported for years.

Metro does keep track of ridership by station, they just don't release the data to the public unless you formally request it from them.

mill204 wrote:Metro does keep track of ridership by station, they just don't release the data to the public unless you formally request it from them.

Do you have any idea of what kind of channels to go through or who to contact to do that? I'm happy to do the leg work to get it, but it'd help to be pointed in the right direction.

^ start here- fill out the email page select *Transit Information*
http://www.metrostlouis.org/CustomerSup ... pport.aspx

wabash wrote:Probably not. Metro's been pretty bad about releasing (and assumedly tracking) station specific ridership data. APTA reports monthly systemwide ridership data, and Metro reports annual systemwide ridership data, but there haven't been station specific totals reported for years.

If only there were some sort of system that could track individual entries (and potentially exits) from each Metrolink platform. I'm imagining a magical apparatus wherein a passenger passes through a rotational barricade, with each quarter rotation representing another rider on a counter. An off-shoot of this contraption would be heightened security (real and perceived) and a renewed responsibility on the rider to support his/her Metrolink experience at an appropriate expense level.

(Or we could just get automated cards to collect that data...)

Kevin B wrote:If only there were some sort of system that could track individual entries (and potentially exits) from each Metrolink platform.

Busdad wrote:Since December 2001, Metro has used an automated passenger count system from a German company (INIT) to determine passenger boardings by station. Each door has a dual infrared counter that measures the number of times the beam is crossed from outside to inside and the number of times it is crossed inside to out. As long as the object crossing the beam is "warm", it is assumed to be a passenger boarding or exiting. We have tested this system repeatedly and found that is it more accurate that manual methods of counting.

Like any system of counting its not perfect. Our manual tests in controlled situations has verified that its accuracy is in the high 90s and its reliability is also in the high 90's.

Are there recent station boarding numbers available?

That information can be requested. http://www.metrostlouis.org/customer-care/

Select "Speakers, Tours, and Research" in the Department Tab in the contact form.

Metrolink station ridership data has been really hard to come by in the last 10 years. Metro doesn't publish it and APTA doesn't break out quarterly ridership data by station. 

So I thought it worth pointing out that with the recent reporting around the CWE station improvements breaking ground, Metro stated that it is still the busiest station in the system with "more than 4,300 riders.... every weekday." That compares with 2011 (technically July 2010-June 2011) weekday ridership of 5,440. So, about a 20% decrease in the last 9+ years. 

According to APTA's data that is slightly better than the entire system's 22.9% ridership declines during that time. The system averaged 40,216 per weekday in the last year of available data (Q4 2018 - Q3 2019). For 2011 the system averaged 52,194 per weekday. 

Here is a breakdown of station ridership in 2018 (size of circle) and changes since 11 (color).

https://public.tableau.com/profile/alex ... ion/Sheet1

As well as monthly ridership stats for Bi-State and Madison a County Transit. I think the free falling ridership is over.

https://public.tableau.com/profile/alex ... ype/Sheet2

^Interesting. What's the source of the data for that station breakdown? Those numbers look a bit better than the APTA data for year-end 2011 vs. year-end 2018 data, which shows a 20% decline. 

Interesting that the single largest % gainer is Skinker. It's now up there with Clayton and Brentwood as the busiest Cross County stations other than Shrewsbury, and it's the only one of those without park-n-ride.

Also, while every "original line" station (from Lambert to 5th & Missouri) lost riders, it's notable that ridership between CWE and Grand and with the addition of Cortex saw a combined decrease of only 130 passengers or less than 2%. 900 riders for Cortex is pretty impressive - more riders than Wellston and more than UMSL North and UMSL South combined - and consistent with the pre-construction projections of 890 weekday riders. 

Just looking at the St. Louis City stations (other than Shrewsbury) it's a tale of two sections. The six Downtown stations got crushed, collectively losing 26.2% of their ridership. Thinking back to 2018 - I'm sure that was impacted by Union Station platform construction/access restrictions, Civic Center bus transfer reconstruction and Laclede's Landing station being impacted by Arch Grounds construction. But still, a terrible performance for DT. The six non-Downtown stations - Grand, Cortex, CWE, Forest Park, Skinker and Delmar - saw a blended decrease of just 3.5% when you include the addition of the Cortex station. If you eliminate Grand (but again include the addition of Cortex) the five westerly stations actually saw a slight net increase. 

A Hard-Eyed Look at Mass Transit
Mass transit, as the name suggests, was fundamentally designed on the idea of NOT social distancing, but instead waiting in groups, walking in groups, and sitting and standing in groups.
https://conversableeconomist.blogspot.c ... ansit.html