Quote:
Originally Posted by edmontonenthusiast
^^That ridership still seems very low for a city "doing it right".
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"Doing it right" is one of the reasons it's not higher. Many systems start with park-n-rides, which tends to be effective in drawing passengers but is of questionable benefit if the goal is to give people an alternative that doesn't require a car at all. The Seattle line has one small park-n-ride.
Another factor is that at the only high-density stops, i.e. the Downtown Transit Tunnel, the line has a built-in disadvantage. Traveling between the tunnel stations on a bus is free, but doing the same thing on light rail costs you a fare (they buses use the same lane as the tracks). Even if the train is right there, you simply wait a minute and a platoon of free buses will go by.
A third factor is that having the buses and rail coexist in the same tunnel is more complex than expected, which has resulted in less peak-time frequency for the train. (Buses and trains are separated for some reason. Also, one wheelchair on a bus can set the whole bus/train system back significantly.)
The train is standing room only at rush hour. Today I took it south from Downtown at 4:30. It was more than standing room...at the two southern Downtown stations, people couldn't get on at all. Some of this was apparently a timing problem, as they were announcing that another train was coming along momentarily with less people on it. But on my return trip Downtown at 5:00 (which had room to sit), the other trains we passed had a lot of standing passengers too.