Light-rail ridership exceeds expectations

During the first month of light-rail service in the Valley, the number of passengers surpassed the operating agency’s expectations.

About 30,600 people rode trains on weekdays, Metro’s board of directors learned from CEO Rick Simonetta on Wednesday. That average was 17.8 percent greater than Metro’s monthly target, during its first year, of 26,000.

Weekend numbers were even better: On Saturdays, ridership was more than 31,300, compared with Metro’s goal of 20,800; the average passenger count on Sundays and holidays was 23,800 – more than double the target of 11,270.

Total ridership in January was 911,883 boardings, Metro reported.

“The numbers are good numbers,” Simonetta told the board.

Metro opened its 20-mile line, built at a cost of $1.4 billion, on Dec. 27, and began charging fares on Jan. 1.

Some people who rode Metro in those early days were enticed by the “discovery and novelty effect,” Simonetta acknowledged. But, he added, “We’re starting to see those trends may continue.”

Among the eight park-and-ride lots along the line, the busiest is at Mesa’s Sycamore/Main Street station. It can hold 802 vehicles, making it the system’s largest.

“It’s as close to capacity as any of the lots,” Simonetta said. “There’s such a population that is east and south of that location with pretty good access to it. It’s really doing great.”

In total, the park-and-ride lots currently are about 60 percent full. Metro officials expected more demand for parking, but soon learned fewer riders than projected were connecting to the trains via car.

Instead, Simonetta said, more passengers than anticipated live within walking or biking distance of stations.

“When you’re talking about $6 billion worth of economic development along the rail line, a lot of that is residential,” Simonetta said.

Despite the good ridership numbers, Simonetta admitted the system still has some bugs.

• Riding the line from end to end takes about 70 minutes, rather than the 60-minute running time that had been promised. Metro, desiring a 10-minute gap between trains, responded by adding another vehicle to those already on the tracks.

“The 60 minutes was probably a little unrealistic,” Simonetta said.

By March, Metro expects to have the running time down to 65 minutes.

• Enforcement against riders who board without paying is about half of what Metro wanted. Currently, the fare evasion rate is one in every 100 passengers, Simonetta said.

• Computer problems are preventing Metro from informing passengers at stations how long until the next train’s arrival.

“Opening the system on time was a goal; opening it with absolute perfection was an aspiration,” Simonetta said.

Simonetta also addressed a complaint of many riders: the loud announcements made to passengers. He said Metro would turn down the volume of the public address system, while no longer subjecting people to a barrage of code-of-conduct reminders.

“We’re only going to announce each station arrival once,” Simonetta said. “So, I think, we’re really going to calm the noise inside the trains.”