The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
One thing we learned about Hampton Roads on Friday: If it's free, they will ride it.
People overwhelmed The Tide's light-rail stations and trains on opening day, prompting officials to extend the ride-for-free program for another week. It had been planned for just this weekend.
The light-rail system's debut was a smash hit, but that created waits at some stations of more than an hour and shoulder-to-shoulder rides.
Hampton Roads Transit President and CEO Philip Shucet said nearly 27,000 trips were taken by 7 p.m. Friday, far exceeding expectations for opening day. Average daily ridership is projected to be 2,900.
The Newtown Road park-and-ride lot at one end of the line and two overflow lots, totaling close to 700 spots, were full from noon into the evening.
Shucet said the decision to extend the no-fare period was made by the city and HRT so people wouldn't feel "pressured" to get a free ride in just one weekend. The first day for $1.50 fares will be Monday, Aug. 29.
He said the loss of fare revenue "will be minimal," probably about $3,000 per day for the $318.5 million line.
Mayor Paul Fraim called the turnout an "unqualified success."
"The numbers have been so overwhelming and the interest so great it's clear the citizens of Norfolk and all of Hampton Roads have embraced light rail today," he said Friday.
Trains were so crowded, Fraim said, that he could not get on board at the Civic Plaza Station and had to walk across town to his law office.
To accommodate the unexpectedly large crowds, HRT in the late morning put a seventh train on the tracks, one more than what would be used during peak rush hours. But that helped only a little, and an eighth train was added in the evening. Patrons were asked to exit at the MacArthur Square stop to eat, shop or soak in opening-day activities because many riders were staying on trains for more than an hour.
At midafternoon, HRT buses were sent to the Newtown Road, Eastern Virginia Medical Center/Fort Norfolk and MacArthur Square stations to take people back to park-and-rides so they could avoid long waits and overcrowding on the trains could be eased. Some used the buses, but they weren't very popular.
"It's a good problem to have," Shucet said.
The crowded conditions, combined with warm temperatures, made it uncomfortable for some who complained of heat-related distress. By early afternoon, HRT was handing out water bottles at Newtown, the most consistently crowded of The Tide's 11 stations.
Along the 7.4-mile route, trains were jammed with joy riders as well as commuters.
Ed Steward was impressed by the crowds: "I'm just trying to get to work - I had no idea. I didn't expect this fanfare."
Steward said he normally takes two buses, riding about an hour, to get to his job at a shipyard on the Elizabeth River from his home near Newtown Road. He thinks he can cut that commute in half on The Tide, by walking or busing to Newtown, getting off at Harbor Park, and taking the pedestrian walkway over the Elizabeth River to the shipyard. "I'm trying it out, seeing if it works."
Bo Foley, a lawyer, rode from his Freemason office to the courthouse.
"This makes perfect economic sense," he said. "Normally, I'd drive and pay $3 to park. A round-trip ticket is $3, and this is a lot easier."
Linda Schoenhoff of Virginia Beach said she doesn't go to downtown Norfolk because she doesn't like the drive, the congestion and the parking: "I'm definitely going to go now on light rail."
Connie Jacobson drove from her downtown Norfolk home to be on the first train out of Newtown Road at 6 a.m.
"I wanted to be where it starts... and wanted to be the first on it," she said.
Mike Camden combined work, pleasure and exercise on his outing. He drove in a suit to the Newtown station with a bike and gym bag in tow. He planned to hit a business meeting, then ride his bike to the gym. Later Friday, he planned to bring his family back to ride to the Norfolk Tides baseball game.
"It's a very encouraging start," Shucet said. "It will be interesting to see what the ridership is in 30 days."
Pilot writer Harry Minium contributed to this report.
Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com
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i have a picture
i have a picture on my phone of an HRT bus that thought the pretty red flashing light ment get as close as you can to the track so when they drop the arm it almost hits you. i would not want to be a rider on that bus i thought for sure they were going to get killed.
The picture with the lady wearing the red shirt
her face says it all.
That is really funny! She looks like she'll be back real soon.
i agree
she sure does not look happy...but we will never know what she was really thinking.
Where did they get their ridership numbers
from for this weekend?
I seen the lines, and I believe there were a few thousand, but the total they came up with is a joke. If they had counted accurately, they wouldn't be extending the even more free ridership service through the week.
In fact, when passing it this morning all the cars were EMPTY.
This train is nothing more than a novelty, and those of you screaming you want more of it, should open your wallets to pay for it.
The number comes from the
The number comes from the automated counters built into the rail car doors, which is how almost all systems count passengers today. Only a few of the older systems still use manual counters.
However, possibly as a backup and I suspect more to help judge the ridership at each station since the automated system doesn't track by station, HRT also placed people at the stations to count ridership.
is lightrail really a hit?
Up front I'm admitting I have no use for lightrail....it doesn't go where I need to go, the pickup and let off stations aren't anywhere near me and the cost was far beyond my comprehension for 7-some miles of track. Saturday, for the novelty of it, I drove to Newtown Road to take my autistic son and 2 year old granddaughter for a ride on lightrail....their first and probably only ride. What I saw was astonishing.....TONS of people waiting to board 1 train and no parking whatsoever. I'm betting the 80+ thousand riders since Friday were there for the same reason I was going (a 1 time ride) and it was free. The city should NOT have extended the free rides for another week. Dumb move.
"Success" is not how many people ride, but who pays for it
There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding what a "success" is in regard to Norfolk's tiny, slow light rail train.
If you are a firm that bought off politicians who approved this gross misuse of our tax funds so you could funnel tax money into your own pockets, YOU can ALREADY declare "success"; you made YOUR MONEY off this scam.
If you are a property owner who doesn't actually LIVE along the route, but bought land near the train to turn a profit because of the taxpayer's money used to pay to build light rail, you can ALREADY declare "success"; you made YOUR MONEY off this scam. This includes BANKERS that loaned the land speculators money to buy the property along the corridor.
Taxpayers stuck paying for this? No success - ever.
Reid
In this case success is defined as that which costs the taxpayers less.
No matter what form of transit we use the taxpayer is going to have to pay. That is a given. Doesn't matter if it's a bus or a train.
However, since light rail costs 60 cents per passenger mile to move people and a bus costs 90 cents on average in this country, light rail is the better bargain for the taxpayer.
So again, I define success in terms of what costs me less money. That is light rail.
Do you like paying more?
If you are comparing it that way
you need to compare expenses, and the cost of damage control after flooding, and after the multiple accidents they cause.
That is a comparison of operating expenses.
Once again, operating expenses include salaries, power, on going maintenance, repairs to cars, etc.
And probably 95% of all accidents will not be caused by the trains; they will be caused by drivers not paying attention and/or following the rules of the road. Rules that were on the drivers license test that everyone had to study for and take. Rules that have been in effect for more than 100 years in this country.
And insurance takes care of any costs for fixing the trains after they've been involved in an accident. Insurance that by the way is paid for by premiums included in the total operating expenses.