Cap Metro: MetroRails new weekend hours off to a good start After three weeks of providing MetroRail service

on Friday and Saturday nights, officials at Capital Metro say they are pleased with the results of the recent schedule change. On March 1, City Council approved a $5.7 million interlocal agreement with Capital Metro to fund extended service on Friday and Saturday for 34 months. On March 23, trains began running hourly from 7 p.m. until midnight on Friday, and every 35 minutes from 4 p.m. until midnight on Saturdays. Prior to the change, there was no service on Saturday. On Fridays, the last northbound train out of downtown left around 6:30 p.m. "One of the most common requests we hear is to run MetroRail on evenings and weekends," said Linda Watson, president and CEO of Capital Metro. "This agreement allows us to deliver what the community has asked for. During the first weekend on the new schedule, MetroRail had 2,687 boardings on Friday and 1,458 boardings on Saturday. Last week, there were 3,005 boardings on Friday, and 1,206 boardings on Saturday. The Friday totals include trips during daytime hours that were in place before the extension. Capital Metro says there were about 1,700 boardings on a typical Friday before March 23, so ridership beyond that represents additional boardings during the new hours. The interlocal agreement provides $5.7 million in city funding for the extended hours. Capital Metro will reimburse the city through the Quarter Cent Program, an existing arrangement in which the transit agency directs a quarter cent of its one-cent sales tax collection to the city for transportation projects. Capital Metro will credit the city for the amount collected in additional

fares during the next 34 months, which they estimate to be about $300,000, effectively reducing the citys payment to $5.4 million. Before this agreement went into effect, MetroRail provided extended weekend service during South by Southwest and saw a record 7,000 boardings on Saturday, March 17. This data led us to believe that people would ride the train downtown on weekends, and that it would be a useful service, said Erica McKewen, a spokesperson for Capital Metro. Jackie Washington said she enjoyed riding the train into Austin from Cedar Park during South by Southwest. When she brought family visiting from Kentucky on the Austin Duck Boat Tours last weekend, she chose to use it again. I hate driving downtown, and the bus scares me, because the routes are confusing, Washington said. The train just goes in a straight line. Its fast and simple. Washington said she is excited to use the extended hours, and that she hopes to see MetroRail provide earlier service on Saturdays as well as routes to shopping destinations such as the outlet malls in San Marcos. I love the train, she said. I hope it continues to develop and grow. Thomas Butler, transportation director at the Downtown Austin Alliance, said MetroRail benefits local businesses and attractions because it brings in people from outside the city who dont normally come downtown. The hours Capital Metro chose were a great place to start, Butler said. But more Saturday and Sunday hours would attract people to special events downtown. Kathie Tovo was the only city council member to vote against the agreement with Capital Metro. Tovo said she was not satisfied with the evidence the agency provided for the policys potential success.

We didnt really have documentation to support the ridership expectations, said Tovo. When we make financial investments of this magnitude, we should have that kind of information to show taxpayers. Tovo said providing service during the day on Saturday might be more beneficial than extending evening hours. We have a lot of events downtown during the day and theres demand for alternative ways to get there, said Tovo. Generally Im supportive of MetroRail, but it didnt seem to me that they selected hours that were going to expand the base of users. McKewen said Capital Metro considered extending service on Saturday from 10 a.m. until midnight or from 4 p.m. until 2 a.m. as alternatives to the chosen schedule. This is a good middle ground because its less expensive, McKewen said. Were going to monitor ridership, and if any changes are needed, we will be in a position to make those changes. MetroRails Red Line launched in March 2010, and cost $105 million to construct. The line, which operates at an annual cost of approximately $14 million, consists of six dieselpowered trains running on 32 miles of previously existing freight tracks with nine stations between the Austin Convention Center and Leander. Dr. Randy Machemehl, director of the Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas at Austin, said most passengers on public transport like MetroRail are commuters traveling during the work week, so the extended weekend hours might not significantly increase ridership. I would characterize it as a good experiment to see if it will inspire more usage at offpeak times, Machemehl said.

Despite being proposed as a way to reduce the number of cars on busy freeways, Machemehl said MetroRail doesnt have a very large impact on traffic congestion. Additional changes such as improved highway design and unconventional work schedules are necessary to significantly increase the efficiency of local roadways. Austin has been plagued by a divisive view of transportation and the result has often been that we do nothing while demand increases, Machemehl said. We cant build our way out of congestion with highways, rail or anything else. We have to attack it from all sides if were going to be successful. McKewen said Capital Metro has not done any formal studies on congestion impact. Any time someone gets on public transportation instead of taking a car, those little actions do add up, McKewen said. Brooke Aldaco said she has been using MetroRail for three months to commute to and from work four days a week, and that the cars are usually filled to capacity when she rides. I dont like sitting in traffic, Aldaco said. Nobody rode MetroRail at first, but I think its catching on and starting to make a difference.