JERSEY CITY | PATH Train Ridership Growing Rapidly
http://www.panynj.gov/photo/path/PATH_system_map.jpg
According to reports from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PATH ridership is rising rapidly this year. Month Avg. Weekday % Jan-15 227,561 Feb-15 245,222 7.76% Mar-15 250,446 2.13% Apr-15 258,351 3.16% May-15 264,326 2.31% Jun-15 266,647 0.88% Is the PATH system on track for a record year? In the past, fare increases hampered ridership growth. 2012 was on track for a record year until Hurricane Sandy shut down the system for a month. |
PATH capacity is supposed to be 240K ppd…and it's climbing out past 265K. Only another 25K to go before it eats all the extra capacity the new signal system is supposed to add sometime in 2018. Must be a little crowded presently.
I hope the PA has options on a lot of ferries in case the North River tunnels can't hold out. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
The average count for turnstile entries in June, between 8-9am, was 41,043. This is well above capacity. The hourly peak ridership back in 1920s was nowhere near as high. Instead, ridership levels were more consistent throughout the day. Here is a nifty report, which breaks down the hourly counts for each station: http://www.panynj.gov/path/pdf/2015-...ship_6_Jun.pdf |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Mike is going by the daily ridership stats, but people sometimes look at daily or yearly stats and forget to examine the distribution of the ridership. It may be possible for a system to carry more riders per day than it is currently, but it may not be possible for it to carry more riders per hour in a particular direction than it is during certain parts of the day. Perhaps there weren't as many people commuting into and out of town for work back then making the rush hour of yesteryear less crowded, but there were more people making the trip for other reasons like shopping at department stores, taking in entertainment, etc. so the system was more consistently busy throughout the day.
Or perhaps it was something as simple as that there was more general transportation demand on PATH in the 1920s since the Holland tunnel didn't open until 1927 and the Lincoln tunnel in the 1930s. So that could be another reason why it may have been used more by non-commuters throughout the day. Was there any drop in riderhip after the tunnels opened? |
Quote:
|
Quote:
Weekday ridership has only grown 2.2% year-to-date this year. Here's the true year-over-year growth for the system by month: Weekday Ridership: Jan -1.6% Feb 5.2% Mar 0.9% Apr 2.2% May 3.6% Jun 3.0% YTD: 2.2% Total Ridership: Jan: -4.5% Feb: 2.2% Mar: 3.4% Apr: 3.0% May: 1.4% Jun: 5.9% YTD: 2.0% (Sources: http://www.panynj.gov/path/pdf/path-...eport-2014.pdf , http://www.panynj.gov/path/pdf/2015-...hip-Report.pdf ) Not quite as dramatic as the numbers you provided, but solid growth nonetheless. |
Quote:
|
PATH nearly hit an all time high in September with an average weekday ridership of 269,025 for the month. This is the fourth highest month on record, and the highest since October 2011. The record is 270,971. The Pope's visit to New York likely played a role in the high numbers, so we'll have to see continues. YTD averages 252,652. Last year averaged 249,900. Last September averaged 258,150.
|
Weekday Ridership:
Jan -1.6% Feb 5.2% Mar 0.9% Apr 2.2% May 3.6% Jun 3.0% Jul 1.4% Aug 3.6% Sep 4.2% Total Ridership: Jan: -4.5% Feb: 2.2% Mar: 3.4% Apr: 3.0% May: 1.4% Jun: 5.9% Jul: 4.8% Aug: 5.3% Sep: 5.5% Quote:
|
Developers are building high rise condos and rentals as fast as the land becomes available and visionary projects are being pitched for every vacant parking lot and brown field near the water. Meanwhile the PATH continues to chug along barely keeping up service while raising the fares every few months and threatening less trains on the nights and weekends.
I actually had a chance to speak with the head of the Jersey City planning board and voiced my concern with the rapid expansion of downtown Jersey City and the capacity of the PATH. His only response was that the Port Authority have a knack for maintaining service just enough to meet demand, and that their signal modernization project should help greatly. I think the ultimate issue with the PATH is the lack of Express service by virtue of single track through the system. If it were possible to run express trains from 33rd to Newport, or from Journal Square to WTC, you'd see population grow rapidly along all stops of the lines as the farther destinations could skip the middle stops and those stops typically relegated to squeezing into already over crowded trains would have ample room to grow. Of course, there is no way to realistically add Express to the PATH short of digging an entire new system, so perhaps the best next step would be digging a third tube between caisson 3 (NJ) and Christopher street allowing increased capacity across the river between HOB and JSQ lines. |
Quote:
At some point they will have to expand PATH. The platform/train extensions will help, the increased frequency will help, but at some point they will need another route through JC to Manhattan. |
It'd be nice if PATH could eat the Bayonne Branch of HBLR and SIRR.
|
Quote:
That said, it isn't just the lack of trans-Hudson capacity that's an issue. It's the fact that that part of North Jersey is essentially an extension of New York the city (rather than the metro) howsoever balkanized it may be, and needs to be connected into the city's subway system. (IOW, we should merge PANYNJ and the MTA, with MTA's better management in the controlling position.) |
Staten Island Railroad has 16.000 weekday ridership and late night service has a 30 minutes frequency. Path has 250.000 weekday ridership and late night service has a 35 minutes frequency.........
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
There is talk about giving PATH to NJ Transit, which is the wrong move. Give it to MTA and integrate it more into the NYC subway system. They already share payment methods. I'd venture to say most path riders transfer to the MTA rather than transfer to NJ Transit. |
Quote:
Anyone have access to historic change schedules, so the changes can be better documented? |
All times are GMT. The time now is 5:38 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.