It?s been a while since London created and then expanded what it called a congestion zone. To get into this area in the central part of the city, drivers have to pay a hefty toll ? almost $16. The question raised was how much of an impact it would have on the amount of traffic in the inner city. Recent studies show traffic volumes are down 13 percent in the congestion zone but have remained static elsewhere in the city.
While this reduction is impressive, I?m surprised the reduction in traffic isn?t higher.
I can?t imagine the impact that a toll like $16 would have on traffic in downtown Baltimore City. It would certainly cut down on the number of people who drive in to work, but it also might have a negative impact on tourism.
Transit use rising, but not at rate of gas prices
The Maryland Transit Administration is touting increases in the use of transit.
Overall ridership increased nearly 2 percent, from 91,537,624 trips in fiscal 2005 to 93,278,512 trips in fiscal 2006,according to the agency.
Light rail gained 11 percent in ridership.
MARC trains saw a 6 percent increase or 390,654 new riders, while commuter bus service in Baltimore City rose nearly 5 percent and commuter bus service in Washington grew by nearly 9 percent.
Local bus and Metro ridership also grew slightly, the agency said.
Given the fact that these numbers were taken as gas prices rose to record levels, one might have anticipated they would have been higher.
Perhaps if the type and quality of the service better matched what potential riders needed and wanted, the numbers would have been in the double digits across the board.
Putting the pressure on MARC service
Bill writes: “I think your column has applied the pressure and finally helped make a difference for MARC commuters.
“Train 534 (5:20 p.m. ?Express? to Perryville), which had been routinely seriously overcrowded, is now back to just plain old overcrowded thanks to the addition of a ninth car. The aisles are no longer filled with passengers, and the conductors can make their rounds.
“Perhaps we can now get some action on another MARC aggravation: Train 415 (7:40 a.m. local to Washington), often gets into Penn Station in plenty of time to discharge passengers and begin boarding, but often it can take 10 to 15 minutes before an official boarding announcement is made. When the train arrives at 7:20 to 7:25 a.m., that makes a big difference on whether or not it departs on time.
“Furthermore, they typically do not open all the doors so that both sets of stairs can be used by passengers to board the train quickly and efficiently.
“Earlier local trains from Penn do not seem to suffer from this ? passengers detrain quickly and the next set of commuters board almost immediately ? and using all available doors.
“Why do the other local trains seem to be able to turn around quickly, but this particular one does not?”
We?ll take the first part as a good start here and hope some of the more common-sense issues take hold.
Thanks for the update, Bill.
Questions, comments, random musings? Write to [email protected].
