|
La rail line ridership rises 19perc { May 2008 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_9398885?source=rss_viewedhttp://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_9398885?source=rss_viewed
Ridership on rail line rises nearly 19%
By Fred Ortega, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 05/27/2008 11:23:50 PM PDT
PASADENA - In another sign commuters are leaving their fuel-guzzling vehicles behind, ridership on the Metro Gold Line increased by nearly 19 percent from last year, far outpacing ridership on other Metro Rail lines, according to figures released Tuesday.
Average weekly boardings on the 13-mile Gold Line from East Pasadena to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles hit a record 22,231 in March, a significant increase over the 18,735 weekly boardings the line logged in March 2007.
By comparison, the Metro Red Line subway, which experienced the second-highest percentage boost of all Metro rail lines, had a 5 percent increase in ridership between March 2007 and March of this year.
The Gold Line had only exceeded 20,000 weekly riders once before - in September 2006, when ridership peaked briefly at 20,952.
Metro officials attribute the increases to burgeoning gas prices. The agency has experienced a 5 percent boost in ridership across the entire Metro Rail system over the past year, officials said.
"Once prices approached the $4-a-gallon mark, that is when people started deciding they could alter their driving habits by maybe taking public transit once or twice a week," said Rick Jaeger, a Metro spokesman.
Indeed, during the Gold Line's last big spike in ridership in September 2006, gas prices in Los Angeles were coming off a months-long peak of up to $3.43 per gallon, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.
Now, the average price for regular unleaded in L.A. is $4.07 a gallon.
"When we begin to approach the $5 mark, we anticipate more people will start to park their SUVs and start using public transit for their commute," Jaeger said.
The hike in Gold Line ridership has been evident for a while to longtime users at the Sierra Madre Villa Station in East Pasadena, which had already filled to its nearly 1,000-vehicle capacity by 9 a.m. Tuesday.
"I can't find any parking at all anymore when I come at 11 a.m.," said Linette Dai, who uses the Gold Line occasionally to get to her job in Chinatown. "Before, you could find some really great parking spots in the morning."
The cost of gas is getting so expensive for Pasadena resident Vince Mockary that he is considering taking Metro Rail more often.
"It's getting to that point," said Mockary, who was taking the Gold Line on Tuesday on his way to perform jury duty in downtown L.A. "I am contemplating taking it to my job in Hollywood instead of my big gas-guzzling SUV."
Jun Kim, who has been taking the Gold Line to his downtown job since the Sierra Madre Villa station opened in 2003, said he has also noted a crunch in parking lately.
"I have seen it increasing a lot," said Kim. "They need to do something about the parking. But we also need to change our living patterns, and the Gold Line is very convenient. It only takes me a half hour longer" to get to work.
While the Gold Line's ridership increase outpaced the rest of the Metro Rail system, percentage-wise, its raw ridership numbers are still well below those being posted on Metros' other rail lines.
The Red Line, which runs from downtown Los Angeles to North Hollywood, led all four lines, with 144,841 average weekday boardings in March, up 5 percent from a year earlier.
The Red Line was followed by the Blue Line, with 78,555 weekly boardings along its L.A.-to-Long Beach route in March, a 2 percent hike from March 2007. The Green Line, which runs from Norwalk to Redondo Beach, had a total 38,909 weekly boardings in March of this year, up by 4 percent from a year earlier.
One-way tickets on all Metro Rail lines are $1.25, while a $5 pass gives riders unlimited travel on all lines for a full day.
"Five dollars is close to the price of a gallon of gas now, so we believe we offer a good value," said Jaeger.
fred.ortega@sgvn.com
(626) 578-6300, Ext. 4444
|
|
