More than 75,000 rode The Tide on debut weekend

NORFOLK

Riders flooded The Tide light-rail trains over the entire three-day opening weekend, with more than 75,000 trips taken - for dining, shopping, work and, mostly, just for the fun of it.

"It was a near-perfect launch, with the crowds exceeding every expectation," Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim said.

The free preview has been extended through next weekend. Fares of $1.50 will be collected starting Monday, Aug. 29.

"There were people getting off the trains at Newtown Road with shopping bags," Fraim said. "One of the ways that the success of light rail can be measured is by the increased economic activity."

Jim Wofford, MacArthur Center general manager, said the mall's food court and restaurants were swamped.

"Everybody had a line," he said. "And folks were actually shopping. If the momentum continues, light rail will definitely be a traffic generator for downtown Norfolk."

Ben Giancola, Norfolk Tides baseball assistant general manager, didn't have numbers but said the Harbor Park rail stop gave the weekend home stand "some sort of bump" in attendance: "After the game, there were a lot of people heading toward that station."

Passengers weren't the only ones having fun with the opening. Hampton Roads Transit President and CEO Philip Shucet vowed on Twitter to attempt the Charlie's Cafe killer omelet challenge, eating a 12-egg omelet and eight pancakes in an hour, if ridership exceeded 75,000 for the weekend. He's working on a date for the gastronomic test.

While trains were less crowded Monday, the main park-and-ride lot at Newtown Road still filled by noon and a satellite lot was opened.

More than 7,000 trips were taken Monday as of 4 p.m. The Tide ridership is expected to average about 2,900 on weekdays in the first year of operation.

"We still don't know if (Monday) will be indicative of what an average day will be like," Shucet said. "We need another three to four weeks to get a better idea of what a true average would be."

He said passenger counts are being recorded daily and will be posted on HRT's website starting later this week.

Throughout the weekend, passengers were tracked by automated counters on the trains as well as manually by workers stationed at each train door. Their counts showed 67,000 to 70,000 trips, but HRT officials said those numbers are low.

Shucet said automated counters were overwhelmed by the number of people who stood blocking sensors in doorways and who reached in front of sensors to hold on while the train moved. And because HRT put extra trains on line to handle the crowds, the transit agency didn't have enough workers doing manual counts to cover them all.

"We're confident we carried over 75,000," he said. "The opening weekend can only be described as an extraordinary event."

Fraim noted that the initial enthusiasm will wear off.

"I think we need to give the system a little time to breathe," Fraim said. "There are going to be slow days and busy days and some bumps along the way. But every indication from this weekend is that the public has embraced light rail."

Shucet said that while train operations ran smoothly, there were some lessons learned. No smoking signs will be posted at stations, he said.

Eating and drinking on the trains could not be controlled because of the crowds. But going forward, Shucet said, "If somebody is eating, they may be reminded that eating is not allowed. If somebody is drinking a bottle of water or cup of coffee with a lid on it, I don't know if they'll hear too much about that.

"We want people to ride and read the paper and drink their coffee - we just don't want people to spill their coffee."

Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com