WMATA ridership declines are in line with national statistics

Nationally, transit ridership has declined by 3.82%, according to the American Public Transportation Association, in the article, "APTA: Ridership drop reflects harsh economy," from Metro Magazine. From the article:

Trips on all of the major modes of public transportation — bus, light rail, heavy rail and commuter rail — were down; paratransit (demand response) and trolleybus were the only two modes that saw increases in ridership. “This downturn in public transportation ridership is a reflection of our economic times,” said APTA President William Millar. “Nearly 60 percent of riders take public transportation to commute to and from work, so it is to be expected that public transit ridership would be lower when unemployment is high.” ...

Heavy rail (subways) declined by three percent. Los Angeles Metro heavy rail continued its trend of increased ridership with an increase of six percent for the first nine months. Ridership on the Washington Metropolitan Transportation Authority (WMATA) increased by 0.6 percent for the same time period. ...

Bus ridership declined by five percent in the first nine months of 2009. In the largest bus ridership report, bus trips increased in San Francisco by 1.1 percent. Bus travel in the smallest population area (below 100,000) decreased by only one percent — the smallest percent decrease of all population groups.

WMATA reports that ridership is down below projections, and is one of the reasons that an unexpected budget deficit is leading to proposals for service cuts. See "Metro ridership still falling below budget projections" from the Examiner and "Pain ahead for Metro : The transit authority is looking at a combination of cuts and extra money to close a $175 million budget gap" from the Post.

From the Examiner article:

The problem is that fewer riders have been taking both Metrorail and Metrobus compared with last year. Part of the explanation may be the disruptions the deadly June 22 train crash caused throughout the system. Metro also ran fewer rail cars on the Red Line, where the crash occurred.

But agency officials have pointed to the region's high unemployment rates. Last year also brought in record ridership levels as commuters sought public transit when gas prices rose above $4 a gallon. It makes sense that some riders would return to their cars as fuel prices leveled off. However, Metro assumed ridership would continue to grow when it crafted the budget that began July 1.

In addition to the lower ridership numbers, the report also says riders are taking shorter train trips. Because fares range from $1.35 to $4.50, depending on distance and time of day, an increase in short trips is undercutting how much Metro expected to bring in through fares.

The ridership declines have been tempered, though. In July, rail ridership dropped 3.82 percent over the same time last year. In October, the report says, the average weekday ridership had dropped just 1.42 percent compared with the same month in 2008.

Matt Johnson, in the post "A new late-night map to soften the blow of Metrorail cuts" in Greater Greater Washington, offers an interesting suggestion on rightsizing service across the lines, to reduce the "need" to go to 30 minute headways late at night. By reducing service on lines that overlap, Matt's proposal means that 15 minute headways are achievable.