Will commuter rail regain popularity again?

[daybeers]

Meanwhile here in LA we're still going with 15 minute frequencies at 5:30PM on the the Red and Purple lines which are some of the most used subway lines in the nation.

Not as bad as 10 minutes on Red, 20 minutes at all times on other lines in DC because of the 7k series calamity

 

[west point]

If I was running a business, I would be hesitant to call back employees to our offices. If I ran a cafe, bookstore, curio store or like business I would also be hesitant to call back employees. If I go a week or more then I would call back more each week. Unfortunately, many business owners will look at the deaths as an indicator. We know deaths are a lagging indicator so it will take 2 - 4 weeks for deaths are still showing up following new cases.

Then there are those that will worry about another variant that blows thru all citizens. All in all I expect that ridership will increase every week!

 

[MIrailfan]

gAS price rise has increased ridership.

 

[west point]

IMO each system will have many factors to determine rate of return or even if ever getting back to full 2019 ridership.

 

[Fenway]

The new NYC subway boss who formerly ran Boston senses rush hour is a thing of the past.

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-yor...0220405-d755uoe3mnenlivr6inxb32riq-story.html
Car traffic in the Boston area is almost back to normal but subway and commuter rail is still lagging.

100+ years ago there was another pandemic but downtowns rebounded quickly as there was no feasible way for workers to work remotely and people needed to shop.

A conductor friend told me the only time North Station trains are close to full is for sporting events at TD Garden which sits above North Station.

Richard Davey to me is a shocking hire to run NYC Transit. He brokered the deal with China's CRRC for replacement cars for the Boston subway which is painfully behind schedule as have Rotem cars for the commuter rail.

The MBTA Commuter Rail is not a pleasant experience. Granted the MBTA was dealing with absorbing the old New Haven, New York Central (Boston and Albany), and Boston & Maine cultures and returning to locomotive push/pull to replace the aging Budd RDC-DMU fleets that the previous carriers used. From 1987 to 2003 it actually wasn't terrible because AMTRAK ran it (ponder that) but they walked away and since then MBCR and later Keolis has managed it for the MBTA which never wanted to take operation inhouse as SEPTA did.

It's going to be a hard sell to convince riders to come back to Boston. South Station is an embarrassment, Back Bay is a dungeon and North Station today may well be the best of the three because it is managed by TD Garden.

 

[AmtrakMaineiac]

South Station is an embarrassment, Back Bay is a dungeon and North Station today may well be the best of the three because it is managed by TD Garden.

South Station would be a great station if it weren't perpetually under construction.
I agree about Back Bay I only use it if I have to. I still remember the beautiful station the New haven had which they tore down.
North Station would be great if they could get rid of the pigeons. There seems to be more of them than people sometimes.

 

[daybeers]

South Station would be a great station if it weren't perpetually under construction

And if the ads were less obnoxious, more seating was available, more status boards were placed around the station, and if it wasn't so cold and drafty all the time.

 

[MARC Rider]

And if the ads were less obnoxious, more seating was available, more status boards were placed around the station, and if it wasn't so cold and drafty all the time.

I kind of like the humongous big departure board.


On the other hand, I can see the benefit of having a few more monitors placed around the station.

South Station is actually not that bad, except there's not enough seats in the waiting area, and the ones they have are rather uncomfortable as I found out some years ago when 67 conked out, and they returned us there to sit in the middle of the night waiting for the train to be retrieved and a new locomotive attached.

Now it's hard to really judge it because of the construction, but I hope eventually they'll do something about the waiting area. Fortunately, I have lounge access, and the Metropolitan Lounge there is one of the nicer ones.

 

[NorthShore]

Which means more job centers need to be built near rail stations.

But, that's not as easy as it seems in an area like Chicago, where everything around suburban stations is, often, long established housing and suburban "downtown" retail. The "solution" to this on certain commuter lines has been for companies to provide shuttle bus services (sometimes contracting with Pace) for "last mile" services to the company centers. Or, conversely, to move back into city center offices in order to attract talent which might otherwise take jobs in other cities.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

But, that's not as easy as it seems in an area like Chicago, where everything around suburban stations is, often, long established housing and suburban "downtown" retail. The "solution" to this on certain commuter lines has been for companies to provide shuttle bus services (sometimes contracting with Pace) for "last mile" services to the company centers. Or, conversely, to move back into city center offices in order to attract talent which might otherwise take jobs in other cities.

Until covid that's what was happening (move back to downtown) - my company moved our office from the far NW burbs to downtown because of labor issues (i.e. younger or more talented people not wanting to reverse commute or even considering the burbs) - especially in creative professions.