Archive for November, 2012

Chart of the Week: Influencing Factors on Weekend Metrorail Ridership

November 13th, 2012 2 comments

Average weekend ridership by month, FY08 to FY12.Events that impacted the average ridership during a given month are indicated with annotations.(Click for a larger version.)

A recent assessment of rail ridership over the past five years has concluded that in addition to moving people to and from work during the week, Metro also has a critical role to play in moving people to and from weekend activities and special/holiday events.

From the chart above, it is clear that Metrorail supports a large volume of travel to a wide variety of special events that are unique to the area:presidential inaugurations, issues rallies, and cultural events such as the annual Cherry Blossom Festival.  Metro is more than just a commuting tool:  the hundreds of thousands of trips on weekends and holidays show that the rail system is busy on weekends, too.

It is also important to note that Metrorail is not immune from the impacts of severe weather, such as the massive weekend snowstorm in December of 2009 and Hurricane Irene in August of 2011, both of  which cut into ridership and reduced revenues.  And because weekend trips are more often discretionary than weekday work trips, the impact of weather on weekend ridership can be much greater (in percentage terms) than on weekdays.

 

Momentum Outreach Update: Join the Conversation in Round 2!

November 8th, 2012 Comments off

Are you eager to tell us what needs to happen to make bus service more predictable and make your trip faster?

Do you have a great idea to help move more passengers through heavily-traveled stations in Washington and Arlington?

Do you sit in traffic and think, if only there were a fast, quick, comfortable transit option, life would be so much better?

Have you noticed a great concept or idea in another city’s transit system that Metro should implement?

If the answer to any of these questions is “Yes!” then please join the conversation about the future of your transit system at Momentum: The Next Generation of Metro.  We are using asking the public about how we can better serve their needs, and among other ways we are hosting questions at wmata.mindmixer.com!

Census Figures Show Transit Use Up in Washington Region

November 7th, 2012 1 comment

Data recently released by the Census Bureau show that more commuters are using public transportation than ten years ago, and that transit use has been growing faster than the workforce. Transit’s share of commuters rose from 14.6% in 2000 to 19.4% in 2011. The growth can be chalked up to all transit operators in the region, and it is an encouraging sign that transit’s role supporting the economy has been increasing. Nearly all jurisdictions in WMATA’s Compact area experienced a growth in public transportation usage.

Public transit's share of commuting has grown in the last decade across nearly all jurisdictions in the WMATA Compact area, the latest Census data show.

Transit’s growth in the region highlights the need for us, our partners, and the public to start talking strategically about Metro’s future. Not only are more people taking transit, but more people are choosing to make the Washington region their workplace and home. How can Metro best accommodate growing ridership?  Join the online conversation at Momentum to express your thoughts on these and other questions. Over the next few months we will post questions, conduct polls, and ask you to prioritize various elements of the plan. Your input matters, and we’re listening.

In the coming months, we’ll be releasing what we learned about our rail ridership through the 2012 Metrorail Ridership Survey.These findings from the Census will help put the survey results in context.

The table below shows the change in number of workers for whom means of transportation work is determined, and their transit mode share, between the 2000 Census and 2011 1-Year American Community Survey.

Number of Workers (for whom mode is known)

Transit Commute Share

2000

2011

2000

2011

District of Columbia

260,884

306,801

33.2%

39.6%

Montgomery County

455,331

516,545

12.6%

15.8%

Prince George’s County

397,403

446,551

11.9%

19.5%

Arlington County

116,046

139,722

23.3%

28.4%

Alexandria City

77,190

89,831

16.4%

18.2%

Fairfax County

527,464

580,430

7.3%

9.9%

Fairfax City*

11,845

12,106

7.6%

9.0%

Falls Church City*

5,853

5,667

15.9%

15.8%

TOTAL – WMATA Compact Jurisdictions

1,852,016

2,097,653

14.6%

19.4%

These numbers describe commuters’ “primary” mode of transportation to work. The American Community Survey figures are estimates based on sampling, and are accompanied by statistical margins of error (not shown here).

* Note: For sampling size reasons, the American Community Survey does not publish 1-year statistics for Falls Church City and Fairfax City. This post shows 5-year 2005-2009 ACS statistics for those two jurisdictions.

Have your say on the Montgomery County BRT Master Plan Update

November 6th, 2012 Comments off

Countywide Master Plan Transit Corridors.(Click for larger size.)

While Metro works to bring the transit system back up to a state of good repair as well as looking to the future of Metro, we continue to work with our jurisdictional partners on various transit studies and projects to expand the region’s transit system.  In Montgomery County, since 2008 much of the transit expansion planning has focused on developing a countywide Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, most recently through the recommendations of the county’s Transit Task Force earlier this year.

Seeking to take another step towards defining the county’s transit future, the Montgomery County Planning Department is holding a series of public meetings in the coming days to hear from the public on an update of the county’s master plan to consider how BRT might be incorporated within the transportation corridors under study.  Above is a map of the proposed corridors under review.

You can find Montgomery County planning staff’s recommendations online (22MB pdf).

 

 

 

Chart of the Week: 5-Year Ridership Change By Station

November 5th, 2012 4 comments

Inset of graphic showing top ten stations by absolute ridership growth, 2008 to 2012. Station #8, Morgan Boulevard, is off the map.  Click the image above to download the full graphic in PDF.

While rail system ridership is up nearly 2% over 2008 levels, this growth in ridership is not spread evenly across the Metrorail service area.  This map illustrates the locations of the stations in the top-ten for absolute ridership growth, 2008 to 2012.

  • In general, the Green Line corridor in DC is responsible for much of the station ridership increases.
  • Much of the ridership growth illustrated on the map can be attributed to redevelopment around some of our more recently opened stations, such as Georgia Ave-Petworth, Columbia Heights, Morgan Boulevard (off of image above), and NoMa-Gallaudet.
  • Additionally, redevelopment near Foggy Bottom-GWU, Waterfront and Shaw-Howard U has contributed to increased ridership at those stations.
  • The increase at Pentagon could be due to increased express bus and commuter bus activity, with federal workers heading to new BRAC-related work sites along the I-95/395 corridor.

For a full version of this graphic, download the PDF:  Top Ten Stations for Ridership Growth, 2008 to 2012 (1 Mb)

TAG Meeting #9: RTSP Phase II: Review of Round 1 Scenario Results

November 2nd, 2012 4 comments

In September, we presented to the TAG the results of the first round of scenarios modeled in the second phase of the RTSP study.  Scenarios are defined by a collection of strategies or projects identified in the initial phase of the RTSP.  The four scenarios tested focused on maximizing the existing infrastructure, expanding surface transit, expanding transit in the core, and expanding transit system wide.  The performance of each scenario was evaluated against a set of measures to determine the relative effectiveness of each compared to the baseline scenario, defined by the regional list of projects in the currently adopted Constrained Long Range Plan, and MWCOG Cooperative Forecasts Round 8.0 land use.

Phase II Process Overview: Click to Enlarge

Regional measures such as total transit trips, mode share, vehicle miles traveled, households and jobs within a half-mile of transit, travel time savings, and transit congestion were evaluated to not only determine how well the scenarios performed against each other over the baseline, but to assess how well each satisfied the goals and objectives of the RTSP.  In addition to these broad-based regional measures, the first round of scenario modeling focused on how well each scenario addressed the need to expand capacity within the system core.  Peak period Metrorail link capacity and transfer activity at key core stations were measured against the baseline scenario to determine if the potential build scenarios could provide sufficient capacity to serve future demand, and how well such added capacity could be utilized.

For more information on scenario descriptions, measured results, and key findings download meeting materials: TAG 9 Presentation of Results

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