Sounder 2011-08-05 Ride Pic 15: This view costs over $57 to taxpayer$...
Gee thanks... thanks a lot!
Here's what the Everett Herald reported:
It costs taxpayers more than $57 for each rider to take the Sounder commuter train from Everett to Seattle -- and that's just one way.
For Sound Transit Express buses, it costs taxpayers $4.33 for each rider between the same destinations.
...
That's why the agency should discontinue the Sounder north line and replace it with more buses, according to a retired transportation planner from Bellevue who crunched the numbers. He based his conclusions on operating and capital costs and ridership figures over the next 30 years.
"If properly informed of the situation, Snohomish County taxpayers should be pressing to stop continuance of Sounder north," James MacIsaac said in a letter to Sound Transit in January.
Sound Transit officials dispute MacIsaac's method -- he includes capital costs in cost-per-rider figures while Sound Transit does not, per industry standard.
Still, Sound Transit's own figures show cost-per-rider at $32 last year without capital costs, compared to about $7 for Express buses systemwide.
One of the biggest expenses for the system is $258 million the agency paid up front to Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad for the permanent right to use the rail lines between Seattle and Everett. MacIsaac counted this payment as a capital cost in his cost-per-rider numbers, along with stations, trains and other costs.
...
Last year, nearly 10 times as many trips were taken on Sound Transit Express buses between Everett and Seattle than on the Sounder -- roughly 2.3 million versus 280,000.
The Sounder figure includes an average of 515 riders each way per weekday in 2011. It also includes 48,000 riders who took the train to sporting events on weekends during the year.
By contrast, Sound Transit Express buses between Everett, Edmonds, Lynnwood and Seattle carried about 3,950 people a day each way, according to MacIsaac's figures.
Sounder trains runs eight trips per day, four each way, while the 510 and 512 routes from Everett run a combined 161, according to a Sound Transit schedule.
Those 500-plus-per-day round trip riders on the Sounder line could be moved to new buses and commute for that much less, MacIsaac says.
Add in the fact that the Sounder north line has at times been plagued by mudslides that have forced the cancellation of many runs over the years, and that means an inefficient operation, he says.
...
Sounder is limited in part by the fact that the railroad so far has not agreed to allow Sounder to run more than four trains per day each way even though the agency paid $258 million. Much of the line is a single track that Sounder and Amtrak must share with freight trains.
MacIsaac said other factors favor buses as well. They make multiple stops in downtown Seattle while Sounder stops only at King Street Station, and the buses generally take less time to travel from Snohomish County to downtown than Sounder.
Sorry but at a time when special needs kids and adults alike are being used to balance budgets... this service can go. I'd rather take the bus @ that rate.
Sounder 2011-08-05 Ride Pic 15: This view costs over $57 to taxpayer$...
Gee thanks... thanks a lot!
Here's what the Everett Herald reported:
It costs taxpayers more than $57 for each rider to take the Sounder commuter train from Everett to Seattle -- and that's just one way.
For Sound Transit Express buses, it costs taxpayers $4.33 for each rider between the same destinations.
...
That's why the agency should discontinue the Sounder north line and replace it with more buses, according to a retired transportation planner from Bellevue who crunched the numbers. He based his conclusions on operating and capital costs and ridership figures over the next 30 years.
"If properly informed of the situation, Snohomish County taxpayers should be pressing to stop continuance of Sounder north," James MacIsaac said in a letter to Sound Transit in January.
Sound Transit officials dispute MacIsaac's method -- he includes capital costs in cost-per-rider figures while Sound Transit does not, per industry standard.
Still, Sound Transit's own figures show cost-per-rider at $32 last year without capital costs, compared to about $7 for Express buses systemwide.
One of the biggest expenses for the system is $258 million the agency paid up front to Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad for the permanent right to use the rail lines between Seattle and Everett. MacIsaac counted this payment as a capital cost in his cost-per-rider numbers, along with stations, trains and other costs.
...
Last year, nearly 10 times as many trips were taken on Sound Transit Express buses between Everett and Seattle than on the Sounder -- roughly 2.3 million versus 280,000.
The Sounder figure includes an average of 515 riders each way per weekday in 2011. It also includes 48,000 riders who took the train to sporting events on weekends during the year.
By contrast, Sound Transit Express buses between Everett, Edmonds, Lynnwood and Seattle carried about 3,950 people a day each way, according to MacIsaac's figures.
Sounder trains runs eight trips per day, four each way, while the 510 and 512 routes from Everett run a combined 161, according to a Sound Transit schedule.
Those 500-plus-per-day round trip riders on the Sounder line could be moved to new buses and commute for that much less, MacIsaac says.
Add in the fact that the Sounder north line has at times been plagued by mudslides that have forced the cancellation of many runs over the years, and that means an inefficient operation, he says.
...
Sounder is limited in part by the fact that the railroad so far has not agreed to allow Sounder to run more than four trains per day each way even though the agency paid $258 million. Much of the line is a single track that Sounder and Amtrak must share with freight trains.
MacIsaac said other factors favor buses as well. They make multiple stops in downtown Seattle while Sounder stops only at King Street Station, and the buses generally take less time to travel from Snohomish County to downtown than Sounder.
Sorry but at a time when special needs kids and adults alike are being used to balance budgets... this service can go. I'd rather take the bus @ that rate.