Rail Ridership Is Up And Is Staying Up
Many media reports over the past six months have touted Amtrak’s increasing ridership — up 15% for 2008 over the previous year. Most also cited the soaring price of gasoline as a major factor for that increase.
But now that the price of gas has fallen, the usual nay-sayers are telling us that the rail boom is over … that people will be getting off the trains and climbing back into their cars.
Really? That’s not what the latest numbers say. As just one example, Amtrak’s Silver Star, which runs daily between Miami and New York City via Tampa, was up 4 percent in the month of December … and another 18 percent in January.
If a dip in ridership were to occur, it would seem most likely to happen with commuter rail. But again, ‘taint so. Three quick examples: the relatively new Rail Runner commuter service linking Albuquerque and Santa Fe in New Mexico is up more than 35 percent. Portland, Maine is up 26.5 percent and the increase in Seattle is almost 24 percent. And it’s the same story pretty much everywhere.
The flip side to all this is that increased demand means a corresponding increase in the operating costs for these commuter lines. And for Amtrak, too. Since necessarily (and properly) all passengers rail systems are subsidized by government – local, state and federal – those increased costs are just adding to budget deficits raising their ugly heads at almost every level.
That was a very frustrating exercise!
Although I managed to find some statistics about Canadians’ recent travel habits (http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/02/26/canada-travel-international.html), the numbers did not specify train stats, focusing mostly on overseas travel and travel by plane or car.
Trains were lumped in with “other forms of travel”. Why don’t trains get specific statistics? Were the numbers that negligible?
Thanks … and let me know what you find out, s’il te plait.
:)
Wonderful post, Jim. And a very encouraging one too. I don’t know what the numbers are like in Canada, but I will do a little research and see if I can’t unearth equally interesting numbers.
Indeed! Thanks for pointing that out. An obvious omission which I will not forget to include the next time.
Oh, I don’t know, Jim. Perhaps Giovanna enjoys the feel and odor of burning sulfur …
Anyway, let me add to your excellent comment re NARP: the discounted Amtrak fares that NARP membership brings! My wife and I are both NARP members and our dues are more than covered by the discount on the long distance Amtrak trips we enjoy each fall.
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