(The Hartford Courant published the following story by Matthew Strozier on its website on August 21.)
HARTFORD, Conn. — Bucking a pattern, train ticket sales and ridership increased for Metro-North’s New Haven Line last month despite a big fare increase.
Ticket sales were up almost 1 percent and ridership was up 1.6 percent last month compared with July 2002.
Metro-North spokesman Dan Brucker said ticket sales and ridership traditionally drop after a double-digit fare increase, particularly in a slow economy.
“So this is unusual,” he said.
The fare hike seems to have sent riders flocking to discounted bulk-ride passes, particularly the 10-trip passes that offer 15 percent savings. Metro-North likes the bulk purchases because it provides upfront revenue and frees conductors from selling tickets.
Sales of 10-trip passes for off-peak times shot up 20 percent, sales of weekly passes rose 9 percent and sales of monthly passes increased about 1 percent.
The biggest ticket sales increase — 31 percent — was for 10-trip “intermediate” passes for stations outside of Manhattan, where most fares rose one-third less than those for Manhattan.
That suggests more people are commuting on trains within Connecticut, state and Metro-North officials said.
Facing a budget shortfall, Connecticut increased fares on July 1 for Metro-North Railroad by 15 percent for commuters headed into Manhattan. It was the first increase since 1995.
State residents traveling to other New York stops saw an increase of about 7 percent, and fares went up about 5 percent for trips within Connecticut. The hike was 25 percent for New York Metro-North riders.
Before the fare increase took effect, a poll found that nearly half of all train commuters said they would drive to work more often to avoid the higher costs. Fifty-three percent of riders opposed the increase, 8 percent supported it and many said they didn’t know enough to comment.
The fare increase stirred opposition from politicians and commuter groups who feared it would exacerbate traffic problems on Interstate 95. With the ticket and rider numbers, state officials responsible for the fare increase said those dire predictions were unfounded.
“I said that I didn’t expect to see a major drop-off in ridership,” said Harry Harris, chief of the state Department of Transportation’s bureau of public transportation.
Harris said he predicted a slight drop-off was possible, followed by a quit rebound.
It’s unclear what the rise in ticket sales and ridership says, if anything, about the region’s economy, given the range of factors that lead someone to take the train. Still, the increase isn’t a bad sign, experts said.
“Is it a trend or is it a blip? Let’s look at how it shakes itself out,” said Fred Carstensen, director of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis.
The numbers indicate hopeful signs, including that there appears to be a market for riders despite old train cars and a fare hike, he said.
“Think how wonderful it would be if Metro-North had decent car sets and higher reliability. That is the big issue for people,” Carstensen said.
According to Metro-North, train ridership fell at some stations after the fare increase, but a breakdown of ridership by stations is not yet available. Ridership could have dropped to Manhattan, where fares rose the most, but risen to stations within Connecticut, which had the smallest fare increase.
In addition, Metro-North may be doing a better job of counting passengers.
Riders appear to be more likely to buy tickets at station vending machines to avoid onboard fare penalties. Selling fewer tickets allows conductors to move faster, meaning they allow fewer “double rides” because a ticket was not punched, Brucker said.
Still, state and Metro-North officials say the numbers show train commuting has a loyal customer base.
“We are happy with the numbers because they show that despite fare hikes, ridership is growing, which shows that customers are getting exceptionally good value for the money,” Brucker said.
Compared with July 2002, the New Haven Line last month had 44,595 more riders. The total ridership last month was 2,920,758.