MBTA Revenue Up Despite Ridership Fall
The transit service made more than half-a-billion dollars in 2013 for the first time ever in its history. South End Patch News
With High Ridership, Bike Crashes Spike Slightly
Bike-related crashes spiked a small amount given the higher ridership in the Boston area over the course of the last two years. Mayor Thomas Menino’s office released the City of Boston Cyclist Safety Report May 15. The report, which analyzed data from the last four years, found that bicycle related crashes were up 2 percent according to the Boston Police Department and 9 percent according to Boston EMS between the period of 2010 and 2012. Boston Police data shows an increase of 11 bike crashes, from 477 to 488, between 2010 and 2012, and the EMS data shows a spike of 44 crashes, from 477 to 521, during the same period, according to the report. The discrepancy exists because The Boston Police Department reports crashes only on Boston roads, and EMS reports crashes at which Boston Police may not have been called, according to the report. During that same period ridership went from 47,600 riders per day in 2010 to 56,644 rides per day in 2012. The ridership increase is an estimate based on a 2000 ridership baseline which is then extrapolated to 2010 using American Community Survey data showing increased trips by year, the report says. As such, the report estimates ridership increased between 16 and 28 percent in the two-year span. The Hubway bicycle share system was launched during this time, which likely contributed to the increased ridership. Hubway estimates there were 675,000 total rides taken on the system between its launch in July 2011 and winter shutdown in 2012. There were nine bicycle-related deaths reported between 2010 and 2012, with five taking place in 2012, according to the report. Other key report findings, provided by the Mayor’s office: Injured cyclists are less likely to be wearing a helmet than the average cyclists. A majority of incidents that resulted in injury involved motor vehicles. Cyclist accident incidents involving and/or injuring pedestrians are minimal. Pedestrians comprised only 2-3% of incidents and injuries in all cyclist incidents. Key behavioral factors associated with accidents included cyclists not stopping at red lights or stop signs, cyclists riding into oncoming traffic, drivers not seeing cyclists and drivers/passengers opening doors. Young adults, particularly men between 19 and 31 comprise more than half of all injured cyclists. The report recommends that the city expand its efforts to provide helmets to riders. Currently, the city makes low cost helmets available at 32 retail locations and farmers’ markets throughout the area, the report says. The report also recommends the city look into one-day distribution options. Plans are underway to install helmet vending machines this year, according to the report. The city will […]
Amtrak Ridership Skyrockets on Route Through Back Bay Station
Short-range Amtrak travel has soared over the past 15 years and Boston’s Back Bay and South Station are stops on the two most popular routes in the Northeast Corridor. According to a Brookings Institution report, Amtrak ridership has grown by 55 percent since 1997 — most of this increase is short-distance routes (less than 400 miles). Eighty-three percent of all Amtrak ridership in 2012 was via short-distance routes. The two most popular routes in the Northeast Corridor are the Acela and Northeast Regional, which both make stops in Boston. Both routes are slightly more than 300 miles. The Acela had 3.395 million riders in 2012 while the Northeast Regional, which makes more stops, had more than 8 million riders. That’s an increase of 1 million riders in 15 years for the Northeast Regional (the Acela did not exist in 1997), according to the report. “Those two routes generated a net operating balance of $ 205.4 million in 2011, with $ 178.8 million derived from Acela operations alone. This is not a new phenomenon as over the five fiscal years ending in 2011, these two Northeast Corridor routes delivered an average positive balance of $ 135.9 million per year. They also generated this return via their own operations—the two routes received essentially no state funding support for operations during those five years,” according to the report. “However, since Amtrak owns most of the track in the Northeast Corridor and must maintain the tracks for its own services plus regional freight and commuter functions, it incurs higher long-term depreciation costs not included in these operating statistics,” reported the Brookings Institution. Adie Tomer, associate fellow at the Brookings Institution and one of the authors of the report, told The Boston Globe: “If you’re close to another big metropolitan market and the train runs frequently, people are going to take it,” Tomer said. “When distances extend past about 400 miles, any individual is going to think long and hard about taking a flight, for time considerations alone.” SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
MBTA Ridership Has Slight Uptick in 2012
Ridership was up on the MBTA in 2012. According to figures released by MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott Thursday, 400 million riders took trips on the MBTA in 2012, which is good for a 2.3 percent increase over ridership in 2011. Analysts projected ridership would decrease by 5.5 percent once the June price increase took effect, but just the opposite occurred, according to a statement from Scott which accompanied the figures. Also, this was the first time that average daily ridership was above 1.3 million for an entire calendar year, Scott said. Overall MBTA ridership, which includes the subways, commuter rails, buses, private buses and the RIDE service, as increased each year since 2009, according to the figures. Ridership in 2012 went up 2.6 percent on “heavy rail” service, which includes the Red, Blue and Orange lines, and went up 3.7 percent on “light rail” service, which includes the Green line. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch