M-1 rail discussion

[emu steve]

BTW, I saw that the est. ridership in 5 years of 5M trips yearly or about 13,700 daily.

That equates to about 1K per hour. Doable?

Would the cars be very, very full at peak times to reach that level of ridership?

My guess the initial ridership estimates of 1.8M trip per year will be easily met. That's less than 5K / day or 350 per hour if the system is open 14 hours per day.

[dtowncitylover]

BTW, I saw that the est. ridership in 5 years of 5M trips yearly or about 13,700 daily.

That equates to about 1K per hour. Doable?

Would the cars be very, very full at peak times to reach that level of ridership?

My guess the initial ridership estimates of 1.8M trip per year will be easily met. That's less than 5K / day or 350 per hour if the system is open 14 hours per day.

Emusteve, if you've been watching the new Cincinnati streetcar they are having a fantastic start in terms of ridership despite the fact the mayor will not allow for more money for it from the city budget. That means that there are 2 more streetcars not being used. This is causing the streetcars to be packed full of people, sometimes blowing off stops, and only 2 streetcars running. If that's happening in Cincy, a city smaller than us, I can't imagine what Detroit will be like.

[ndavies]

Emusteve, if you've been watching the new Cincinnati streetcar they are having a fantastic start in terms of ridership despite the fact the mayor will not allow for more money for it from the city budget. That means that there are 2 more streetcars not being used. This is causing the streetcars to be packed full of people, sometimes blowing off stops, and only 2 streetcars running. If that's happening in Cincy, a city smaller than us, I can't imagine what Detroit will be like.

If the system is so popular why aren't they raising the fares to pay for the extra drivers to run those other streetcars? Raising the fares would bring the system back into balance. The increased money would allow for personnel hires and future equipment upgrades.

This is always the problem with mass transit. They never price the system to pay for itself or upgrades.

[dtowncitylover]

If the system is so popular why aren't they raising the fares to pay for the extra drivers to run those other streetcars? Raising the fares would bring the system back into balance. The increased money would allow for personnel hires and future equipment upgrades.

This is always the problem with mass transit. They never price the system to pay for itself or upgrades.

Then you little understand mass transit [[or any transportation infrastructure). If the system had to pay for itself a one way ticket on the Chicago El would probably have to cost $15+.

How about we price the cost of roads the same way. Every time you leave your driveway, every time you turn onto a new street, and every time you enter and exit a freeway, you can pay a toll. Sound good?

[emu steve]

Emusteve, if you've been watching the new Cincinnati streetcar they are having a fantastic start in terms of ridership despite the fact the mayor will not allow for more money for it from the city budget. That means that there are 2 more streetcars not being used. This is causing the streetcars to be packed full of people, sometimes blowing off stops, and only 2 streetcars running. If that's happening in Cincy, a city smaller than us, I can't imagine what Detroit will be like.

Thanks.

What a great problem to have in Detroit: Too many riders [[assuming that based on ridership and number of streetcars that capacity will be a problem at times).

I need a refresher to figure how many streetcars will be is use at any given time.

Gee, if the system is up and running by opening day 2017 [[Tigers) maybe I come out and combine both activities... and ride the QLine to the game.