Do people really know the cost of driving?

By On October 18, 2011 · 11 Comments

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Billboard over the Kennedy Expressway advertising Metra and that it’s “easy come, easy go”.

Updated 11:50 AM: I was mistaken about the vote timing: the Metra board will vote on the fare increase plan on November 11, 2011, not October 14, 2011.

I’m having a wonderful time reading the minutes from Metra’s September 2011 board meeting. This is when Metra staff made their first fare increase proposals. They made a second proposal at the October board meeting – this is available for public comment. These minutes are not yet available.

Here’s Lynnette Ciavarella, Senior Division Director Capital and Strategic Planning, talking about how Metra is cheaper than driving, in the same discussion she had with the board about how Metra fares have not been keeping up with inflation:

She [Lynnette Ciavarella] concluded that it is well known that commuter rail fares are much lower compared to the cost of driving downtown everyday. In previous meetings, staff has used a Drive Less/ Live More calculator. Staff has modified this calculation to be much more conservative. The drive cost now is calculated at traveling 22 days per month, averaging 25 mpg, at $3.95 per gallon, and an average cost of parking downtown at $18.00. The Metra fares no longer include a parking component, so under this approach, a Metra customer living 20-25 miles from downtown under the estimated proposed fare scenario could potential save over $5,000 per year.

I disagree that it’s well known that taking the train to work downtown is cheaper than driving. It does not advertise this; I don’t believe any Chicago transit agency publicizes this fact.

Metra has cryptic messages on its billboards: “Easy come, easy go” and “The way to really fly” neither describe what Metra is and where it goes nor the benefits of using it. These billboards are often placed on train viaducts over the highway so people driving in traffic jams can see them.

The message they should be sending is right there in the meeting minutes: “Take Metra downtown instead of driving and save $5,000 each year”. Complement that text with a link to a new website that helps interested drivers find a station near their home and a schedule; sign them up for a local parking lot wait list or tell them how to ride their bike to the station on a good route and lock up properly when they arrive.

The Drive Less Live More website, operated by the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), has a maps page that links users to CTA station maps, a PDF of an RTA system map, a broken link to a Metra system map, and links only to an Illinois bike map, not the Chicago bike map. This doesn’t make it easy to switch to transit! The Metra homepage does have a “station finder”.

Study: American Public Transportation Association (APTA), March 2011 -  $11,889 annually in Chicago.

Board meeting minutes

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  • commuter

    I have seen this chart in materials on the train itself trying to ease peoples reaction I guess.   But you are correct i do not think they advertise this enough to people that are not already commuters. 

    • http://www.stevevance.net/planning Steven Vance

      Are you referring to the chart that shows people save money when they take transit to work instead of driving? If they’re showing it to their regular commuters, that’s like preaching to the choir. 

      *Who are Metra’s passengers?
      61% of all trips on Metra are taken by people who have monthly passes; 12% of all trips are taken by people with one-way passes. This supports the assumption that the majority of Metra passengers are daily commuters. 

      • http://twitter.com/aka60643 AKA60643

        I think that many of the 12% are weekend riders, at least on the Rock Island.  On my weekend trips, where I’m usually using a 10-ride, most of the people around me are either buying one-way tickets or weekend passes.

        On that line, it’s not unusual for me to encounter people who have either never taken the train downtown before or rarely do it.  Sometimes they’re connecting to Amtrak, Midway or O’Hare.  Some of them are coming from locations out in the country, way beyond Joliet.  My impression is that they’re avoiding the long drive, the high cost of parking and the risk of getting lost in the Loop.

        I agree that most folks don’t seem to be aware of how much driving really costs.  They seem to focus more on having control over their departure time vs. adjusting their trip to the Metra schedule.  It would seem to make a lot of sense for Metra to use car travel expense in their marketing efforts. This could increase Metra ridership and help reduce traffic congestion.  Only showing this info to regular riders is like preaching to the choir.

        • http://www.stevevance.net/planning Steven Vance

          In addition to upgrading their marketing (“easy come, easy go” doesn’t really motivate one to figure out what that means), Metra could also hire an independent designers that look into how new people and weekly passengers interact with Metra, starting at their homes planning a trip and ending at getting off at their destination. 

          How do people find ticket and fare information? How do people come to say “no, I won’t take Metra” and why? How intuitive is it to board a train? Find a station? Understand where trains at that station go?

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