A further analysis from Nicole at TCAT. Many factors working in combination are producing the patterns we see at TCAT. I'm also forwarding to the Transit Services Committee of the TCAT board, which I serve on. Jennifer
Nicole Tedesco wrote: > Jennifer, could you pass on the following message to the Sustainable > Tompkins group? Thanks! > > -- > > Jon is right on the money. > > Thus far in 2008, TCAT has seen a slight overall increase in ridership > of around 2%. Looking more closely, however, the data show that > campus route ridership continues to be down over the same period last > year (-2.7%, over 10,000 rides over four months). Ridership on "large > market" rural routes is down slightly (-0.7%, or 700 rides). On the > other hand, ridership on other urban routes is up (4.3%, over 29,000 > rides), and ridership on rural routes with "minimum" service is /way > /up (13.1%, or ~5,600 rides). > > I suspect these changes are caused by 1) a change in Cornell > University's transit pass offerings, and 2) increased fuel prices. > Beginning in the fall of 2007, Cornell stopped offering free OmniRide > passes to the freshmen and sophomore classes; instead, they offered an > OmniRide to first-year students and free "nights and weekends" > privileges to all other students. Expanding limited free transit > privileges to all students wasn't enough to make up for the drop in > ridership caused by halving the number of free OmniRide passes > issued. This pass structure change corresponded with a sustained drop > in ridership on campus routes of up to 5-6% for almost every month > since September. > > Balancing out the decrease in campus ridership is a notable increase > in rides on urban routes and "minimum service" rural routes. Why > these categories of routes? I personally suspect that city > residents--student and non-student alike--are not taking their cars > for short trips within or just outside the city. We have pretty good > coverage of service within and just outside the city (both in terms of > geographical coverage and hours of operation). The Rts. 10 (Commons - > CU), 11 (Commons - IC), 12 (Commons - CU - IC Nights), 15 (Southside > Shopper), and 30 (Commons - Pyramid Mall) come to mind as having > increases in riders. > > The "minimum service" rural routes are geared toward commuters, with a > few trips in the morning peak and a few trips in the evening peak. > The Rts. 20 (Enfield), 36 (South Lansing), 44 (Groton Weekend), 53 > (Ellis Hollow), and 65 (Danby) stand out as having ridership increases > over 15%. Again, I suspect that commuters are hopping on the bus to > get to work, rather than drive the same trip twice a day (with the > exception of the Rt. 44, which is a weekend-only route). > > In summary, yes, I do believe we're seeing some effect of high gas > prices on our ridership, but there are other factors (such as changes > in pass structures) that are also affecting ridership at the same > time. I have attached a spreadsheet summarizing the data I mention in > this email. Feel free to get in touch with me if you have additional > questions. > > Nicole > > > ======================= > Nicole Tedesco > Service & Operations Analyst, TCAT > 737 Willow Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850 > (607)277-9388 x520 > > > Nicole, > Any light to shed on this? Do you have the latest monthly report > in electronic format? > Thanks, > Jennifer > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: Re: [SustainableTompkins] gas prices, transit > Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 09:39:52 -0400 > From: Jon Bosak <[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> > Reply-To: Sustainable Tompkins County listserv > <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> > To: Sustainable Tompkins County listserv > <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> > References: <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> > > > > Hard question to answer without stats for the last couple of > months, but possibly so. You have to compare ridership > year-over-year to eliminate the wide seasonal variation around > here, of course. The latest figures I've got are for February, so > here's how that looks for the last couple of years: > > Total ridership > > February 2006 333,851 > February 2007 330,429 > February 2008 345,473 > > So yes, there does seem to be a little uptick in total ridership, > and this despite a slight decrease in campus use: > > Campus Other Rural > Urban > > February 2006 119,655 179,469 34,728 > February 2007 106,204 188,270 35,955 > February 2008 107,053 200,573 37,847 > > I'll post an update when the figures for March and April become > available. > > Jon > > Simon St.Laurent wrote: > > Does anyone know if we've seen this effect on TCAT? > > Thanks, > Simon St.Laurent > http://livingindryden.org/ > > > Gas Prices Send Surge of Riders to Mass Transit > http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/business/10transit.html > > DENVER — With the price of gas approaching $4 a gallon, more > commuters are abandoning their cars and taking the train or > bus instead. > > Mass transit systems around the country are seeing > standing-room-only crowds on bus lines where seats were once > easy to come by. Parking lots at many bus and light rail > stations are suddenly overflowing, with commuters in some > towns risking a ticket or tow by parking on nearby grassy > areas and in vacant lots. > > "In almost every transit system I talk to, we're seeing very > high rates of growth the last few months," said William W. > Millar, president of the American Public Transportation > Association. > > "It's very clear that a significant portion of the increase in > transit use is directly caused by people who are looking for > alternatives to paying $3.50 a gallon for gas." > > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins > County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County > area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
