This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
May 2006
— by Jeff Stagl, managing editor
It's 7:30 a.m. on St. Patrick's Day in the Bronx. A steady stream of buses navigate around a mass of cars and taxis on Fordham Road, the borough's main thoroughfare. Buses stop and hundreds file out. Many riders hustle to enter a nearby MTA Metro-North Railroad station on this sunny but cool Friday morning.
After descending a flight of stairs, they make their way to the platform and await a train. It doesn't take long for one to arrive — trains run four minutes apart. Dozens hurriedly board. Moments later, dozens more fill the next train.
Revelers making the nine-mile trip south to Grand Central Terminal to attend the Big Apple's famous St. Patrick's Day parade? No. That might describe the handful of people adorned in festive green awaiting trains on the other platform.
The majority of Fordham Station passengers were heading north to jobs in upstate New York and Connecticut. In the transit-rail world, they're called reverse commuters. Metro-North senior managers call them the linchpin to ridership and revenue growth.
In recent years, the 412-mile, 120-station railroad's reverse commute has increased to 50 percent and inbound commute has decreased to 49 percent of total ridership. Reverse commuters are taking advantage of growing job markets 60 to 100 miles away from the Big Apple in such cities as White Plains, N.Y., and Stamford, Conn.
The ridership shift has prompted senior managers to look at operations as more than staging and running trains for Manhattan commuters — long the modus operandi for the railroad and its predecessors that date back to 1832. They realized they had to serve outbound commuters' needs, as well.
Years ago, trains would run empty to upstate New York and Connecticut to pick up inbound commuters. Today, the same trains carry thousands of people northbound to jobs as house caretakers, nannies, bankers and brokers.
"We used to just move trains," says Vice President of Operations George Walker. "Now, we move people."
To move a projected 76 million people this year — and set another ridership record after providing an all-time-high 74.5 million rides in 2005 — Metro-North will need to attract more reverse commuters and continue to improve operations to serve them. The agency will have to do the same to boost weekend, special event and short-distance ridership, too.
But Metro-North isn't just setting its sights on ridership growth. Senior managers also expect the railroad to continue boosting on-time performance toward 98 percent to meet riders' transit-time needs, raising the farebox recovery or operating ratio beyond 60 percent to get the most bang out of state and local tax subsidy bucks, and generating revenue north of $450 million to increase income.
To meet its goals, Metro-North has to keep making incremental strides, says President Peter Cannito.
"Big gains are hard to achieve, but treading water is not acceptable," he says. "My challenge is to imple-ment a philosophy of continuous improvement."
Metro-North took a few steps forward last year. Ridership rose 3.8 percent, revenue increased 8.5 percent to $437 million and on-time performance went up 0.4 percent to a record 97.5 percent compared with 2004.
To make its way further down the continuous-improvement path, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority-owned railroad is in the midst of spending hundreds of millions of dollars budgeted in its 2005-2009 capital program to continue modernizing stations and facilities, upgrading infrastructure, adding parking, updating rolling stock and implementing marketing programs.
At Fordham Station, where morning reverse ridership has nearly tripled since 1990 from 1,300 to 3,600, the railroad recently extended a platform canopy to shelter more passengers and speed up boarding.
In the Bronx, Metro-North has transformed Highbridge Yard into a train cleaning and servicing shop — complete with a seat repair room that keeps a small army of upholsterers busy — to maintain passenger cars' appearance.
In Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., the agency has begun revamping the century-old and cramped Harmon Yard into a modern campus featuring locomotive, car and component repair shops, and a wheel truing facility to keep rolling stock in tip-top shape.
And at Grand Central Terminal, the railroad has restored the architectural grandeur and elegance of the 49-acre station built in 1913 by the Cornelius Vanderbilt family and is refurbishing the exterior to make the landmark, which had become dark and grimy in the 1990s, more inviting to the 250,000 commuters who use the facility each day.
There are more improvements to come. Metro-North serves millions of hard-to-please New Yorkers and can't afford to neglect assets, allow employees to become complacent, or fall into a pattern of trains breaking down or arriving late.
"We're only as good as our last commute," says Cannito. "If we got you to work on time yesterday and home on time last night, we better get you to work on time today."
To provide the reliable commuter-rail service New Yorkers expect, Metro-North is trying to step up operations. Lately, that's meant adding trains — especially for the reverse commute, which averages 10,000 riders daily. The railroad currently operates 639 trains daily compared with 528 in 1983, when Metro-North launched operations after the Northeast Rail Service Act of 1981 authorized Conrail to divest its commuter-rail operations.
Since 1990, peak reverse ridership has doubled while the number of passengers using the railroad's three main Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines east of the Hudson River has increased 29 percent (Metro-North also operates two smaller lines west of the Hudson) and Manhattan-bound ridership has gone up only 5 percent.
Recent market research told Metro-North officials that the Manhattan commute market has tapped out. The railroad serves 85 percent of its potential Manhattan-bound commuters and the remaining 15 percent won't give up their cars or dislike trains.
Metro-North's ridership shift mirrors what's taking place in other large metropolitan areas. More commuters are riding trains to suburbs or far-off towns than into large cities because of job growth in outlying areas, says American Public Transportation Association Director of Policy and Advocacy Arthur Guzzetti. In addition, reverse commuters predominantly have low incomes and can't afford to pay escalating gasoline prices.
"With traffic congestion as it is, people are willing to go an extra 45 minutes to work in a different city," he says.
Especially early in the morning to beat the rush. On April 2, Metro-North added a northbound Hudson Line train that departs Grand Central Terminal at 5:45 a.m. because more reverse commuters are catching trains around sunrise. The railroad also added an early-bird inbound train that arrives at Grand Central Terminal at 5:40 a.m. to serve growing 6 a.m.-to-7 a.m. Manhattan ridership, which has increased 23 percent the past five years.
One reason reverse commute ridership is increasing: The railroad has strived to maintain fares. For example, in 1986, a monthly "UniTicket" combination train and bus fare from Fordham Station to White Plains cost $81 ($50 for the train; $31 for the bus). This year, the same ticket costs $84 ($56 for the train; $28 for the bus).
"In some cases, we have reduced fares to encourage ridership," says Vice President of Planning and Development Howard Permut.
Metro-North also advertises, predominantly in Bronx and Spanish newspapers, to promote the reverse commute. One ad reads: "Fordham to White Plains in as little as 17 minutes. (Hardly worth buying a newspaper.)" Another states: "With the addition of new third track on the Harlem Line, there's more frequent, direct service between the Bronx and Westchester."
Metro-North also is providing connecting bus and ferry service to keep reverse and inbound ridership on the growth track. At the Hudson Line's Spuyten Duyvil Station — which has minimal parking space and is accessible by a steep, narrow road, yet offers a picturesque view of the Hudson River and New Jersey's Palisades cliffs — the railroad provides bus service from nearby neighborhoods for an additional $25 a month. Since launching the "Hudson Rail Link" train/bus service in 1991, the station's daily ridership has increased from several hundred to 1,300.
"The bus gets people there in four minutes," says Assistant Director of Marketing Strategy Danny O'Connell. "We're working on a similar bus service to feed our Poughkeepsie Station."
As part of its Haverstraw-Ossining and Newburgh-Beacon train/ferry services, Metro-North offers a guaranteed ride home program under which monthly ticketholders receive a free taxi ride home up to twice a month if they work or stay out late and trains no longer are running when a ferry arrives.
"It gives people a comfort zone to try our service," says O'Connell.
Metro-North also is trying to get more people to sample the railroad's weekend, special event and intermediate service to make strides with non-commuter ridership. The railroad relies on print advertising to attract special event riders.
For St. Patrick's Day — which attracted 12,000 or 44 percent more riders than an average week day — Metro-North ran an ad reading: "Make sure you have your train tickets too. Take the train to the St. Patrick's Day Parade." The railroad also runs special print ads for New Year's Eve ("How are you getting to the party?") and July 4th ("We know a pretty good shortcut to the fireworks.").
To boost weekend ridership, Metro-North offers special one-day getaways that package discounted round-trip train fare and admissions to such attractions as the Bronx Zoo, Maritime Aquarium and New York Botanical Garden.
The railroad recently renovated Botanical Garden Station — which is located a short walking distance from the facility — to match the garden's aesthetic beauty. The botanical garden getaway is generating $500,000 in revenue and 100,000 rides annually, says Director of Marketing Charlie Zabielski.
But attracting new riders is one thing; getting them to become frequent riders is another. Senior managers realize Metro-North needs to keep boosting its on-time performance (OTP) to meet customers' transit-time needs and heed the agency's continuous-improvement charge. The railroad is targeting a 97.6 percent average in 2006 and a 98 percent average by 2008, says VP of Operations Walker. To pull it off, Metro-North will need to upgrade more infrastructure and acquire more rolling stock.
"We did 98 percent on the Harlem Line in 1995, so we know we can do it," says Walker. "We look at on-time performance by market, peak and off-peak, and weekend, and not just by line."
Last year, the railroad registered a 96.9 percent OTP for the a.m. peak, 97.8 percent for the p.m. peak, 96.3 percent for the reverse peak and 98 percent for weekends. Metro-North's 2006 goals call for a 97.1 percent OTP for the a.m. peak, 97.6 percent for the p.m. peak, 96.9 percent for the reverse peak and 98.2 percent for weekends.
It helps that employees have taken ownership of the OTP and are trying hard to keep trains running on time, says Cannito.
"Our locomotive engineers know our on-time performance," he says.
Metro-North likely will not get its OTP above 98 percent because of brush fires, floods, suicides and trespassers, says Cannito.
"Can we do better? Yes," he says. "Can we go all year and avoid service interruptions? No."
Key to boosting OTP is improving passenger-car reliability. Metro-North plans to continue rehabilitating and replacing cars to keep trains running on time. By July, the agency will take delivery of 36 M-7s — the last of 336 M-7 electrical multiple units the railroad ordered from Bombardier Transportation several years ago as part of a joint procurement with sister New York MTA subsidiary MTA Long Island Rail Road.
Metro-North spent $686 million to purchase the cars, which feature larger windows, energy efficient dynamic braking, and on-board monitoring and diagnostic systems, and will replace 40-year-old electric cars.
Metro-North also is overhauling 142 M-3 cars and 64 Comet II coaches. The work includes revamping operator controls, pneumatic braking and door operating systems, and trucks; upgrading heating and air conditioning systems; re-arranging seats; and installing new door controls, flooring and toilets.
Next on Metro-North's agenda: acquiring 340 to 360 M-8s. The railroad will award a contract for the cars — which will have wider bodies than the M-7s — in summer and begin taking delivery in late 2008, says Deputy Director of Equipment Tim McCarthy.
To be used on the New Haven Line, the M-8s will enable the railroad to begin replacing its oldest cars, the M-2s. Metro-North's 2005-2009 capital program includes $100 million for the railroad's initial share of the procurement.
"The ability to serve lines with a third rail or overhead catenary will be a big difference with the M-8s," says McCarthy.
Metro-North also plans to purchase 11 diesel locomotives to use on Connecticut shuttle trains or switching/work train assignments and remanufacture 31 Genesis dual-mode locomotives.
By acquiring and retiring cars, and obtaining and rebuilding locomotives, Metro-North lowered its rolling stock fleet's average age from 20 years in 2001 to 12 years in 2005. This year, the railroad plans to increase rolling stock's mean distance between failures from 2005's 67,996 miles to 75,911 miles.
Senior managers continue to seek new ideas on how the railroad can better manage its rolling stock, boost OTP and improve service performance to stay the constant-improvement course. That's meant comparing techniques with commuter railroads overseas, which have similar high OTPs and farebox operating ratios, and steady ridership growth.
"We try to benchmark, but we do it against European railroads because there's no one like us in the United States," says Cannito.
To continue making that claim, Metro-North managers are counting on the railroad's 5,800 employees to help improve service performance and meet riders' demands. Last year, the railroad obtained a 90 percent customer satisfaction rating and received 138 complaints per million rides. This year, senior managers want to maintain the rating and reduce complaints to 93 per million rides.
To do so, they'll stress communication, be it conducting daily or weekly meetings, or providing workers operational tips in the railroad's monthly newsletters.
"From top to bottom, to left to right, we weren't always on the same page — this is New York after all," says Walker. "Now, we get more thank-you notes from riders than complaints."
If senior managers keep Metro-North on its continuous-improvement path, they'll likely get a few more kudos from riders and employees, as well as accolades from their New York MTA bosses.
"We have growing ridership, good on-time performance and we're doing well financially," says Cannito. "We need to keep finding where we have capacity and determine what we need to do to keep growing."
Related Topics: