SE line riders exceed forecast
34 new cars bought after rail stretch used heavily
By Sara Crocker
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 07/06/2007 04:02:37 AM MDT
Twenty minutes before 8 am and the RTD Park n Ride at Yale Ave. and I-25 is full. The parking lot fills up quickly and some people are upset because commuters are parking in the neighborhoods. (Post / RJ Sangosti)
Less than a year after the southeast light-rail line opened, the entire light-rail system carries nearly 61,000 people around the metro area on weekdays - 7,000 more than RTD expected.
Nearly 3 million people have ridden the southeast line since it opened in November, and it has already surpassed expectations, said Regional Transportation District spokesman Scott Reed.
"We are already at our projected ridership for the end of the first year of operation," he said.
And light rail will grow with its users. RTD has purchased 34 cars to add to the 83 already in the system, said RTD spokeswoman Daria Serna.
The new cars, which will be linked onto those already in service, should be running by the middle of 2009, she said.
Denver residents are becoming more transit-savvy, Reed said.
"It's good that people have caught on," he said. "I think people in this area are a pretty adaptive bunch."
Jonathan Howard is part of the evolution.
On an average weekday, he joins more than 32,000 riders of the southeast line, according to RTD's most recent count. Now that he takes the southeast line to work, the 51-year-old financial analyst has thought about selling his car.
"I prefer taking the train now," Howard said during a recent wait at Yale Station.
Still, there have been some bumps in the road, Reed said.
One of the biggest rider complaints is a lack of parking at some park-n-Rides.
Nine Mile, Orchard, Belleview and Yale park-n-Rides were 96 percent to 99 percent full in May, the latest month for which figures were available, according to RTD.
Reed acknowledged that some of these lots fill quickly, but he noted there are nearby park-n- Rides that are at less than half of their capacity.
Dayton, the station closest to Nine Mile, averages about 31 percent full.
Randy Marcove lives about a half-mile from the 129-space Yale park-n-Ride.
"The size of this lot's been inadequate since they've paved it," said Marcove, who on a recent weekday got one of the last spots.
He said that when the lot is full, he parks on the street, which has a two-hour limit on parking.
Marcove and others who park all day outside the lot said they have never been ticketed.
With cars lining the street, it can get crowded, commuters said.
"When I come back, I'll find cars parked all over," said commuter Ryk McDorman. "They'll park in every imaginable spot."
Also, light-rail fare enforcement has been beefed up.
At the beginning of the year, there were six fare inspectors for the entire light-rail system. Now, inspection duties have been given to security guards, and 75 people check for passes, Reed said.
The fare-evasion rate is less than 4 percent, he said.
Service on the southeast line is still in flux, with discussion continuing about limiting service on the G line - which runs from Lincoln to Nine Mile - because of poor ridership, but Reed said he is happy with how the southeast line has progressed.
"I think we've learned some very valuable lessons," he said. "Overall, we've been very pleased with how it's gone."
Staff writer Sara Crocker can be reached at 303-954-1661 or
scrocker@denverpost.com.