If you build it, they will ride

Despite new fares, complaints, Austinites are using commuter rail

By Jasmin Sun

Even if you charge them money, Austinites will still ride the MetroRail.

On March 29, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority began paid service on its newly launched commuter rail line.

After being criticized for launching the MetroRail two years behind schedule, Capital Metro was greeted with packed train cars and no signs of trouble during its first week of service from March 22 to 26, during which all riders rode for free.

Riders will now be charged $2 to $3 per one-way ride, depending on where their trips begin and end. A round trip from one end of the rail to the other costs $6. But commuters who anticipate riding the MetroRail daily can purchase a 31-day unlimited ride pass for $70.

Following a decade of planning, failed plans for an electric-powered light-rail, a completely revamped yet voter-approved referendum, and two launch date delays, MetroRail attracted much fascination and skepticism. Although experience from other cities projects that Austinites who have not supported rail transit will come to appreciate its value, there are still people who doubt the effectiveness of a line running only eight total hours during peak travel times on weekday mornings and afternoons.

The city of Austin has funneled in at least $105 million to complete the 32-mile-long MetroRail “Red Line” that travels between Leander and downtown Austin. With a total of nearly 700 seats built into the commuter rail’s six train cars, Capital Metro officials began the project expecting an initial ridership of about 2,000 boardings per day.

During its week of free service, MetroRail beat expectations, averaging 2,896 boardings daily. However, with daily morning traveler numbers being roughly 30 percent of the afternoon numbers, it seemed that curious joy riders and non-commuters were the rail’s primary customers.

The first week of paid service more than halved the daily number of riders.

Less than 1,000 people used the train during most days of the week, but the majority of those who rode the commuter rail to work in the morning also used it to return home in the afternoon, said Ed Easton, MetroRail’s Downtown Station lead and account executive.

April 2 brought the greatest number of passengers, as parents who had gotten off work for Good Friday brought their children to marvel at the unfamiliarity of the MetroRail.

“My boys wanted to come see the MetroRail,” said KVUE Creative Services Producer Andrew Sowder as he boarded the train Friday afternoon. “I figured since I got off work early today, I’d bring them by to take a look.”

Despite the lower ridership, commuters who had been taking the rail to work since its March 22 launch believe that the benefits they receive from riding the train are worth the fare. However, their support does not come without criticism, especially about the long commute time.

“It normally takes a lot longer to take the MetroRail,” said attorney Justin Hodge of Georgetown. “But I get to work about 45 minutes extra a day, and that’s huge. It’s also more relaxing to take the train.”

“The MetroRail takes a little bit longer than the bus or driving,” said Chad Mayfield, who works downtown at Fourth and Red River streets. “However I don’t have to deal with traffic, so that’s a good thing. I actually take both the bus and the train — I take the bus in the morning because traffic isn’t as bad, but it’s easier for me to get to the train after work, so I take that in the afternoon.”

When asked if Capital Metro would make improvements to the train to make it more time-efficient, interim president and CEO Doug Allen said the commuter rail’s speeds are federally mandated and cannot be adjusted.

Besides increased commute time, passengers have complained about the train’s lack of full trips.

“One of the pieces of confusion we’ve had is that people don’t understand that you can’t go all the way to Leander on every train,” Easton said. Only select trips on the Red Line run from Leander to downtown, or vice versa. In the morning, most trains go from Leander to downtown, but only the first downtown train goes all the way to Leander. In the afternoon, the schedule reverses so that most downtown trains go all the way to Leander, but only one actually goes from Leander to downtown. The schedule assumes that most people who commute to work downtown live in Leander.

Capital Metro board member Chris Riley, also an Austin City Council member, suspects that this problem in the current schedule is caused by the fact that the train runs on a single track, meaning that there can only be one train running in a particular direction at one time.

“I think there could be potential conflict in this,” Riley said. “I think there will be scrutiny of existing schedules that would provide better service. We will be talking about that at the board meeting next week.”