The Future of Commuter Rail in North America (2025) / Chapter Skim
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5 North American Case Studies
Pages 29-47

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From page 29...
... The team was also mindful of differences in terms of geography, operating patterns, and applicable lessons for other commuter railroads. The report includes the following case studies: • MBTA Commuter Rail: Timetable change and its effect on ridership • Metra Commuter Rail: Implementing a new fare policy • Caltrain: Electrification of commuter rail • Metrolink: Overcoming funding and institutional barriers to making timetable changes • Utah FrontRunner: Operational readiness for future schedule implementation • CTDOT Commuter Rail: Developing strategies for transit-oriented development For each case, the research team met with agency staff, reviewed public documents, and assessed data to bring out the lessons for other commuter rail providers in North America.
From page 30...
... Schedule Changes Before the COVID-19 pandemic, most MBTA Commuter Rail lines had bi-directional service for most of the day but had irregular and limited schedules in off-peak directions, on the week ends, and during off-peak times.42 When COVID-19 struck and stay-at-home orders began, ridership dropped precipitously. MBTA told Keolis to retain all employees despite shifting 120% 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 3/2020 5/2020 7/2020 9/2020 11/2020 1/2021 3/2021 5/2021 7/2021 9/2021 11/2021 1/2022 3/2022 5/2022 7/2022 9/2022 11/2022 1/2023 3/2023 5/2023 7/2023 9/2023 11/2023 1/2024 3/2024 5/2024 7/2024 9/2024 11/2024 MBTA Commuter Rail Metro-North New Jersey Transit Long Island Rail Road SEPTA MARC South Shore Line Metra Caltrain Source: National Transit Database.
From page 31...
... The results of this schedule change have yielded substantial ridership growth for MBTA's commuter rail services. Weekday peak ridership is still well below its pre-COVID levels, but midday and evening ridership is much higher.
From page 32...
... Metra inherited a zone-based fare structure and operated under an Illinois state law requiring the agency to receive at least 50 percent of its operating revenues from fares.50 The fare system included monthly passes, often subsidized by employers with a corresponding federal income tax credit designed to encourage use 5 days per week.51 In 2021, the Illinois General Assembly passed a temporary relief of the 50 percent rule, which would have been impossible to meet with depressed ridership without dramatic cuts to service.52 The relief remains in effect as of the time of this writing, and it helped Metra staff rethink approaches to fare structure and collection. Before 2024, Metra used a 10-zone fare system, with monthly passes, 10-ride tickets, day passes, and one-way passes priced based on how many zones a traveler would be crossing, as shown in Figures 14 and 15.
From page 33...
... North American Case Studies   33 Figure 14.   Pre-2024 Metra zone map.
From page 34...
... 34   The Future of Commuter Rail in North America Figure 15.   2023 Metra zone-based fare table.
From page 35...
... According to Metra's survey of passengers before implementation, the fare plan received positive feedback overall.58 More than half of the respondents approved of the proposed fare zones. Furthermore, a sizable majority said that under the new fare structure, they would ride Metra just as much or more.
From page 36...
... 36   The Future of Commuter Rail in North America Figure 16.   2024 Metra fare zones.
From page 37...
... • By pricing all trips not bound for downtown at the lowest price, the new structure encouraged non-downtown trips, and the agency reported an uptick in those types of trips.62 • The new system had some technical challenges at the beginning but has otherwise proved to be an uncontroversial and beneficial improvement. Metra staff employed extensive internal and external engagement when considering new fare policies and products, including "pop-up" meetings in downtown stations, customer announcements, and direct interaction with on-board staff.
From page 38...
... The agency also overhauled its timetable to take advantage of the better acceleration and performance of electric trains. The new schedule regularized stopping patterns into one local pattern, which operates half hourly all day, every day and two hourly limited stop patterns at the weekday peaks.69 They also doubled weekend service frequency from hourly to half-hourly.
From page 39...
... Since commencing service in 1992, Metrolink followed an operating model in which most trains arrived at Los Angeles Union Station in the morning peak, the trainsets and crews parked nearby during the day while crews waited in daily hotel rooms, and then the trains returned to their suburban locations during the evening peak.76 While this model had natural operating inefficiencies, it served the downtown Los Angeles office market well. Ridership grew steadily until 2012, when it started to level off at about 14 million passenger trips annually (Figure 18)
From page 40...
... SCORE is a $10 billion Metrolink improvement program, of which $2 billion is funded to complete service improvement projects ahead of the 2028 Olympics. This first phase of SCORE aims to target reliability and boost service frequencies to 30 minutes in both directions on most lines and includes significant infrastructure upgrades to enable synchronized movement and for capacity and redundancy.77 The first grant in the SCORE Program from the California Transportation Commission in 2018 was $6.5 million for design, rail operations modeling, and environmental assessment of the first projects.78 While SCORE is advancing in part to meet mobility needs for the 2028 Olympics, its advance ment is also a recognition that the Los Angeles region is polycentric, with different job and population centers spread throughout the region.79 An all-day, bi-directional service with timed transfers at Los Angeles Union Station creates a service that should attract a broader range of trips.
From page 41...
... While the analysis did not project specific ridership numbers using a demand model, it was clear to policymakers that capturing even a small portion of untapped markets could be a significant boon to the network. Second, Metrolink staff also showed how the redesigned schedule would use Los Angeles Union Station as a hub for pulsed service.
From page 42...
... For example, many board members had limited travel options when their meetings were expected to end during a significant midday service gap. When the San Bernadino and Antelope Valley lines added midday service, more options became available, and the benefit of future timetable improvements became clearer to the group.
From page 43...
... 5.5 Operational Readiness for Future Schedule Implementation: FrontRunner Changing a service timetable is a significant effort that requires careful implementation. Commuter railroads are generally accustomed to small schedule adjustments, such as adding a single new train slot or adjusting timing along the route.
From page 44...
... Participants in the program attend regular meetings, develop book reports, participate in external and internal tours, and work with a mentorship program.96 The program is completed within a calendar year, resulting in certificates for participants. UTA staff find the program fundamental to the culture of UTA as an agency, and it has helped serve as a foundation for the operational readiness program at FrontRunner.97 As part of its operational readiness effort, UTA held interactive sessions with department heads and subject matter experts to evaluate the proposed schedules.
From page 45...
... . Also, to encourage wider development beyond publicly owned land, CTDOT provided its institutional support on the Hartford Line through an FTA TOD planning pilot grant for rezoning and code updates seen as transit friendly.106 Since 2010, 3,500 residential units and 1.2 million commercial square feet have been planned or constructed along the Shore Line East, 4,200 residential units and 1.5 million square feet of commercial space have been planned or constructed along the Hartford Line, and 24,000 residential units and 3.5 million square feet of commercial development have been planned or constructed on the New Haven Line.107
From page 46...
... A new station is planned in Enfield to bring Hartford Line service to a town currently unserved by rail. This case is an inversion of the typical TOD model in which development is situated near transit and is instead more of a "development-oriented transit" model in which new transit service is provided to an area that is already developed enough to justify the service.
From page 47...
... In the future, CTDOT is interested in using state-owned land to develop TOD and use the development as a revenue source by leasing its land to developers.115 Ridership on the Hartford Line and New Haven Line Waterbury branch is above pre-pandemic levels, which CTDOT staff attributed to the increased development around stations.116 While the Hartford Line service began operation in 2018, and therefore did not have much of a pre-COVID base, its ridership growth is significantly higher at stations with completed TOD development nearby, as shown in Table 8. The Hartford Line example shows a relationship between TOD and ridership that can develop on lines with commuter rail-like services and frequencies.


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