Transit Briefs: LA Metro, SEPTA, PRT, ITC Project, VIA Rail
LA Metro
In June, LA Metro saw its 19th consecutive month of year-over-year ridership growth with 25,181,475 boardings on its rail and bus services, reaching 85.5% of its June 2019 pre-COVID ridership level, the agency announced July 22.
With 18,792,300 boardings on weekdays, ridership reached 82.1% of its pre-pandemic levels. Weekends in June saw 6,389,175 boardings, reaching 97.7% of pre-pandemic weekend ridership from June 2019.
According to LA Metro, the agency helped Angelenos, and visitors alike kick off the summer season, transporting riders to weekend concerts, parades, festivals and sporting events. Weekend ridership was up 32.2% over weekend ridership in June 2023 with combined rail and bus boardings reaching 97.7% of its June 2019 pre-pandemic level. Saturday boardings on rail and bus combined reached 94.6% of June 2019 levels, and on Sundays during the month, average combined boardings exceeded pre-pandemic levels achieving 101.6% of June 2019 levels.
As examples, on Saturday, June 8, LA Metro’s Chinatown Station serving the LA Pride in the Park Concert saw a 197% ridership increase compared to recent Saturdays. The following day, Sunday the Hollywood/Vine Station saw a 188% ridership increase, and the Hollywood/Highland Station had a 73% ridership increase as riders headed to the LA Pride Parade and Block Party. On Sunday, June 23, LA Metro’s K Line saw a 10% increase in ridership as riders headed to CicLAvia South LA driving a 5% ridership increase on the entire LA Metro system that day.
June rail boardings were 5,649,930, 79% of its June 2019 ridership, with 4,098,580 trips taken on weekdays. Total ridership on the A and E Lines is up 26.3% year-over-year when compared to the A, E, and L line configuration before the Regional Connector project was completed. The busiest rail line in June was the B Line with 1,868,890 boardings. The A Line was close behind with 1,841,530 trips taken.
SEPTA
Reader upgrades to enable Express Transit began to roll out on July 22 across SEPTA Metro and Bus, making it easy and more convenient to ride with Apple Pay throughout the Greater Philadelphia area, the agency recently announced.
With Express Mode enabled for debit or credit cards, riders don’t need to wake or unlock their iPhone or Apple Watch or even open any apps to pay and ride on SEPTA Metro or Bus—all users have to do is hold their Apple device near a reader to securely pay with Apple Pay.
Once a user has chosen which debit or credit card they’d like to use with Express Mode, they can simply tap their iPhone or Apple Watch to an enabled reader to ride.
More information is available here.
PRT
PRT will start a program early next year to offer employees, apartment owners and schools the opportunity to buy blocks of transit passes at “sharply reduced prices,” according to a Pittsburgh Union Progress report.
According to the report, the program, called the PRTner Pass, would make 31-day passes that normally sell for $97.50 available to groups for $28—a discount of about 70%—with the requirement that they are distributed to everyone in the group. The sponsor could charge for the passes, but no more than it paid.
The program, Pittsburgh Union Press reports, would be open to groups that have 10 or more participants and could include schools—including high schools—that aren’t involved in the agency’s University Pass program, where colleges or universities pay for passes distributed to students for free. Groups must buy a pass for all members, and members must be between 12 and 65 years old.
Chief Finance Officer Donminika Brown briefed the authority’s Finance Committee about the program Thursday. “Under federal rules, the agency will have to go through a formal process of holding public hearings on the plan because it involves a fare change,” according to the report.
Using a $50,000 grant from the Heinz Endowments, the agency ran a pilot program last year with four employers that involved passes being made available to 113 employees. Interviews done by an outside agency showed the participants “expanded their use of public transit, and the possibility of getting a transit pass influenced their job choice,” according to the Pittsburgh Union Press report.
Employers were “eager” to see the program continue, the agency said. Brown noted that about 50 employers wanted to participate in the trial, according to the report.
Brown said other transit agencies across the country, including SEPTA, have established similar programs. The goal, Brown says, “is to increase ridership and reduce the number of private vehicles on local roadways.”
The committee, Pittsburgh Union Press reports, voted to approve beginning the process to set up the program. The full board is expected to vote July 26 to hold hearings and a public comment period required for federal approval of the fare change.
ITC Project
The City of Inglewood on July 22 announced that EIP, a public-private partnership consortium comprised of Plenary Americas US Holdings, Inc. (equity member), Tutor Perini Corporation (lead contractor), Parsons Corporation (lead designer), Woojin Industrial System Co., Ltd. (automated transit system operator and supplier) and Alternate Concepts, Inc. (lead operations and maintenance contractor) has been selected as the Best Value Proposer for the ITC project.
The ITC project includes design, construction, financing, operation, and maintenance of a 1.6-mile automated people mover (APM) that will connect LA Metro’s K Line and Inglewood’s new major employment and destination centers, including the Kia Forum, Sofi Stadium, YouTube Theater, the Intuit Dome, as well as housing and commercial destinations in the surrounding area.
Previous recent milestones included the commitment from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) last December to allocate $1 billion to the ITC project once it completes further procedural steps and the inclusion in President Biden’s budget last March of a recommendation to make the first payment of $200 million towards the federal contribution.
The approval of the $1 billion funding reservation for ITC, the consortium says, “was the culmination of a rigorous evaluation process conducted by the FTA that measures the community benefits of the project, including congestion reduction, air quality improvements, and economic development potential.” The FTA also evaluates the cost effectiveness of the project in providing those benefits.
The city has partnered with LA Metro and the County of Los Angeles to establish the ITC Joint Powers Authority, which will oversee the design, construction, operations and maintenance of the ITC, following contract award.
The project is on track to start construction next year. All environmental approvals have been secured, and a Community Workforce Agreement with the LA/OC Building Trades Council has been executed to ensure that the project “meets aggressive local hiring requirements and utilizes union labor.” According to the consortium, 17,000 jobs are anticipated to be created by the project.
EIP and the city are currently in discussions and negotiations regarding the project’s pricing and contractual terms, with a proposed contract anticipated to be considered by the City Council in the fall
VIA Rail
VIA Rail recently announced that it is collaborating this summer with Hack Club, a global non-profit network of young coders, makers and builders for a cross-country train adventure from Vancouver to Toronto and then on to Montreal.
The trip, VIA Rail says, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these young innovators to travel through Canada’s natural landscapes on the iconic The Canadian while highlighting “the importance of environmental stewardship, youth innovation, and the benefits of rail travel in shaping a more sustainable world.”
Fifty of the world’s most creative High School coders, climate change activists, performing artists, and entrepreneurs, will use this journey to “build hands-on projects focused on sustainability, ecological science, and finding creative solutions to environmental challenges,” according to the agency.
The collaboration between Hack Club and VIA Rail “aims to inspire a new generation of environmental advocates and innovators,” the agency noted. In addition, the journey will feature performances by renowned Canadian artists, including former Cirque du Soleil stars Mooky McGuinty and “Ryu” Yamazumi, Toronto vaudeville comedian John Park, and Canadian Folk Star Aleksi Campagne.
The train departed Vancouver on Monday, July 22, with stops in Jasper, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Melville, Winnipeg, Sioux Lookout, Hornepayne, and many other communities along the route before arriving in Toronto on Friday, July 26. Hack Clubbers will board a train from Toronto to Montreal on Sunday, July 28th to complete their journey.
“Hack Club’s mission is to empower youth to create a more sustainable future which aligns perfectly with VIA Rail’s mandate of delivering a safe, accessible, environmentally friendly transportation network that seamlessly connects Canadian communities,” the agency said.
