Report: River Line Ridership Below Expectations

There is an article posted on the wcbs880 am radio website, via the AP, about the intial ridership figures on the new River Line operations. Details can be found at:

http://wcbs880.com/njnews/NJ--RiverLine ... _news_html

The NY Times 4.19.4 also ran the same story as reported by the Inquirer. On the one hand, last Thursday I encountered crowds on the cars and few autos in the parking lots at Pennsauken and Florence. On the other hand, I saw the ticket-inspectors doing a lot of writing in their notepads. I wondered whether they were doing passenger counts. With POP, I wonder how transfers and monthly tickets are counted. Are the low passenger counts just on the number of one-ride tickets sold? By the way, I think I saw a teenager and friend by two RF tickets for a dollar bill. That would work if the inspectors looked only at the horizontal time stamp and not at the vertical ticket type.

NJ-ARP has an interesting rebuttal on their current Hotline.

My complaint about the RiverLINE? No food and drink allowed. On a heavy rail train, I can treat myself to a cold one. On the RiverLINE you aren't even supposed to have a bottle of water, and I'd guess alcohol would be even worse. That's not exactly a short ride, end to end, and I think this is a big hassle. Last time I was on, I ate my Roy Rodgers' sandwich anyway, but... still... what's with that rule?

That's why TR-00 calls the DBOM operators of the LRT "scab operators", and I support that view, actually. Were it NJTRO operating, then the rules would be the same as on the rest of the rail lines.

This should be a rail operation, but that is what collective bargaining is for. If I am not mistaken, TR-00 and his brethren contractually agreed to allow DBOM projects like the River Line to not use heavy rail personnel. If I am wrong, I am sure TR-00 will let me know. I suppose that can change in the future.

We're not quite sure "no food or drink" correlates cleanly with "scab labor." We'd note PATH has a policy -- often enforced -- of no food or drink on its trains.

PATH may be many things (or not) and, granted, the longest PATH trip is not quite half the time of a full-length River Line trip. But PATH operators are union employees. So perhaps travel time is the issue at stake here, and not (non-)union operations, per se.

That said, we, too, would appreciate TR-00's input on this matter from his perspective, per the angle raised by JLo.

We're not quite sure "no food or drink" correlates cleanly with "scab labor."

No, not cleanly...it's more of a DBOM vs. NJTRO issue, and simpler than that, the different policies of each of the companies. And arguably there would not be any passenger service on the lines that host LRT now without the DBOM deals, or it would take longer to establish...but that's certainly at a deeper level of politics.

I thought HBLRT's operators voted to organize shorly after operations started. Am I wrong?

I could be way off base, and Im sure someone will clearify if I am.......

All the initial stages of the River Line and HBLR started before I was hired by NJT so I wasn't around in the beginning, and "negotiating" stages, but I have always been under the impression that NJT told the heavy rail unions that

......."we are going to do a "Design, Build, Operate adn Maintain" system on these new lines, and therefore, its not considered part of NJTRO, therefore, Its not the UTU's or BLE's work, and well, thats that. The lines are going to be built and operated by a subcontractor, and not actually a part of heavy rail, and NJTRO."........... and they used the example of the Newark City subway (actually run by NJTBO) and basically, its gonna be just like this, so its not your work.

Come to think of it, i wonder if the Bus people complained about the HBLR, with it not being their work......like the subway is

JPhurst wrote:I thought HBLRT's operators voted to organize shorly after operations started. Am I wrong?

No, you aren't wrong...this occurred after 21st Century Rail management failed to institute promised raises according to their schedule.

No, we didn't 'contractually agree' to the terms of the the light fail lines. As JT says, we were told how it would be.

This has left us with one option, and that is to organize the motormen and other employees. At first, this was difficult, but now they are beginning to see that although they were promised green cheese from the moon, they are actually receiving a pack of Kraft Singles.

Give em hell, TR.

The River Line seems to be a favorite with browns fields developers, as noted in this Inquirer article. There are references to adding adding a station--a cost that developers should probably foot in my opinion.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/8780 ... llls|Jim|Y

Whats wrong with Kraft Single's TR.......??????

Personally im not real thrilled with green cheese from the moon..

I took the Northeast Direct line down to Trenton yesterday to take a ride on the River Line for the first time. As I got out of the rail station, the River Line was just pulling out. I had been close to the back of the NEC train, so it took me a few minutes to make my way down the platform and exit the station. Rookie mistake, I guess, but I'm sure that it's happened to more than a few riders trying to transfer.

So I got on the next train which left half an hour later. It's a nice ride, and was relatively crowded. In my car, there were about 75 people total, though not all at one time. I didn't check the other car.

I took it all the way down to Camden, and took a tour of the Battleship U.S.S. New Jersey, after walking around a little bit I took the rail back to Trenton, and counted about 81 people total in my car on the way back, with lots of people getting on at the Walter Rand Transportation Center. Again, a smooth ride.

There are some long stretches of single track, so I wonder how easy it will be to coordinate 15 minute schedules during rush hour. I assume NJT has it all worked out and it will be no problem, but I wonder how often trains will have to be held.

I can see this line getting 8,000, maybe 10,000 riders a day within a year or two on weekdays. Maybe 6,000 or so on weekends. I'd like to see it go to 15 minutes all the way, which would encourage more traffic.

I also am interested in how the station towns will develop. The Burlington town center looks nice, and it is supplemented by Burlington South station. Overall, it appears that most of these towns are pretty spread out, so that most people would have to get in the car to reach the station. And once you're in the car, you might as well drive to where you want to go unless it's really congested on the road, and from what I gather that area is not particularly congested.

If these towns develop into "transit villages" and congestion becomes more of a problem, then the River Line can fulfill what will become a real important need. For now it's nice, but I wonder if money would have been better spent elsewhere. Still, NJT is doing good work promoting it under some tough conditions. Hopefully, this will be a case of the line demonstrating it's usefullness as the area develops over the long term.