Metro is bleeding riders AND revenue

Through a Texas Public Information Act request, Tom Bazan received Metro's bus and tram boardings data, along with fare box revenue data, collected for FY2005 to the present.

You are advised to sit down before reading further:

-- Fare box revenue for March 2005 was $2.2 million. Fare box revenue for March 2004 was $4.5 million. (oh my)

-- March 2005 revenue was the highest so far this year. We can speculate that was due to Rodeo light rail usage.

-- Remember when Metro reported one million light rail riders for March? Eh, Metro didn't share that total system ridership in March was a bit over 8 million riders, a decline of 3.3 percent from March 2004 (8.3 million riders, system-wide). March 2005 bus ridership declined more than nine percent, compared to March 2004.

-- Ridership in April 2005 declined three percent (system-wide) compared to April 2004, with bus ridership declining almost 10 percent.

Some points to keep in mind:

-- This weekend Metro instituted further bus route cuts and changes.

-- Metro is spending $250,000 to figure out why its ridership keeps declining.

-- Metro wants to spend $58 million for fifteen new light rail cars.

That's what taxpayers get with an unaccountable, quasi-governmental entity. And we have yet another example of why these agencies should have citizen oversight, citizen-appointed boards, and be required to return to voters periodically for funding.

I wonder what Mayor White thinks of Metro's performance?

Posted by Anne Linehan @ 05/31/05 10:12 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Sphere | Comments (17)

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