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Light Rail Now and Walkable Neighborhoods (LRN) can be contacted at: Light Rail Now! |
![]() A familiar canard circulated by many light rail opponents is that light rail "robs" bus service, which then "suffers". As a result, opponents claim, overall system ridership plummets. This is not just false ... it's the exact opposite of the truth. in reality, for almost every single new light rail installation, total transit system ridership has soared. The reasons: • First, light rail tends to be much cheaper to operate; the cost savings are passed on to expansion of bus service. • Second, appropriate bus routes frequently are restructured into
crosstown and feeder routes to interface more effectively with light rail,
thus opening new, crossways bus corridor service and attracting new bus
ridership. Especially in the fast-growing suburbs, this provides brandnew
transit access to and between new suburban origins and destinations
which have been unaffordable and almost impossible to serve with traditional, radial bus routes. • Third, the overall transit system gets a better "image" with light rail, and many people who never previously rode transit will hop on a bus, often to access the light rail service. Here's a few examples of the impact of light rail on overall system ridership. SACRAMENTO Sacramento, California installed light rail in 1987.
PORTLAND Portland, Oregon installed its MAX light rail Eastside line in 1986. MAX annual ridership tripled between 1986-1999. Bus ridership is up over 35% since Eastside MAX opened. Since Westside MAX opened in September 1998, bus and MAX ridership
increased 137% in that corridor. ST. LOUiS
However, that doesn't give the complete picture. Prior to light rail, St. Louis's bus transit system was losing about 2.4
million riders a year. By 1998, that would amount to some 12.1 million
riders lost. Ridership today would be about 25.3 million, not 53.9 million.
Thus, light rail has helped to more than double all transit ridership. Spark That Makes the System Work Bottom Line: Far from "robbing" bus service, light rail's proven it's a tremendous benefactor – the spark that can make the whole transit system thrive! Light Rail Progress Rev. 2001/03/11 |
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