Metra Throws Sox Fans A Curve

[Wsoxmike59]

http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/12...-sox-fans.html

This makes no sense at all. Build a $12M station near the ballpark and then cut service to it after the games! You can just tell Metra is a Gov't run agency. They just don't have a clue.

[doublem23]

I ****ing hate Metra, though, I can't blame them for not running extra trains that don't generate any revenue when they're deep in the red.

I generally ride a Metra train about once every 4-6 weeks when Ms. Doub and I go up to Crystal Lake to see her parents after work on a Friday night we're free. One hour a month on a Metra train is enough to make me want to strangle a complete stranger. I can't even fathom how anyone deals with them 5x per week.

[SephClone89]

Originally Posted by Wsoxmike59

http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/12...-sox-fans.html

This makes no sense at all. Build a $12M station near the ballpark and then cut service to it after the games! You can just tell Metra is a Gov't run agency. They just don't have a clue.

I don't see this going well...

[DumpJerry]

Originally Posted by Wsoxmike59

http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/12...-sox-fans.html

This makes no sense at all. Build a $12M station near the ballpark and then cut service to it after the games! You can just tell Metra is a Gov't run agency. They just don't have a clue.

Come on, you know we don't discuss politics here. Anyway, your comment implies that a private company would continue the service even if it costs them $1,000,000+ in loss revenue/cash. The shareholders of such a company would jump for joy.

[Wsoxmike59]

OK I know what you guys are saying. But did Metra base this decision on April ridership? The season is young and attendance usually picks up after the kids are out of school.

Why would they build a $12 million dollar station and then make it a hardship for Sox fans to get home. Who's going to wait an hour and a half for a train? Nobody.

It's a dumb decision.

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by Wsoxmike59

OK I know what you guys are saying. But did Metra base this decision on April ridership? The season is young and attendance usually picks up after the kids are out of school.

Why would they build a $12 million dollar station and then make it a hardship for Sox fans to get home. Who's going to wait an hour and a half for a train? Nobody.

It's a dumb decision.

I'm sure they reviewed the ridership from last season and made this decision. The bottom line is that Metra does not provide regular rapid transit style transportation like the CTA does. Its primary function is a commuter line, if you look at all of Metra's high rider lines and stations (outside of downtown, of course), very few of them are located near "tourist" destinations, the primary function of the service is to get people downtown before 9 AM and out after 5 PM. Perhaps as the Near South Side continues to gentrify and redevelop, they'll increase frequency on the Rock Island Line.

[amsteel]

Buinesses make business decisions.

[kittle42]

Originally Posted by amsteel

Buinesses make business decisions.

Gotta agree.

[LongLiveFisk]

But it's also early in the season with poorer crowd sizes. You would think if once the weather gets warmer and the Sox start playing better that the demand for the service may increase and Metra will change their minds.

[Frater Perdurabo]

Do public transit systems exist primarily to generate revenue?

Or do they exist to move people?

[DumpJerry]

Originally Posted by Frater Perdurabo

Do public transit systems exist primarily to generate revenue?

Or do they exist to move people?

Well, since their employees don't work for free, the fuel that runs the trains isn't free, the electricity that lights the stations isn't free, and the actual choo-choo trains they use are not donated by the manufacturers, I'd have to go out on a limb and guess they need to bring in at least as much money as they spend so that they can move people. Now, I never spent a day in business school, so I could be wrong in my modeling of this......

[DSpivack]

Originally Posted by DumpJerry

Well, since their employees don't work for free, the fuel that runs the trains isn't free, the electricity that lights the stations isn't free, and the actual choo-choo trains they use are not donated by the manufacturers, I'd have to go out on a limb and guess they need to bring in at least as much money as they spend so that they can move people. Now, I never spent a day in business school, so I could be wrong in my modeling of this......

I think there are few, if any, public transportation systems that break even. As Frater said, they exist to move people around, they're not businesses.

[asindc]

Maybe they should hire the folks that managed TWA or Eastern Airlines.

[SI1020]

This is going to have a bad ending. I'm just wondering. How soon after a game do they cut off service? How much of a chance do you have to make the return trip?

[amsteel]

Originally Posted by DSpivack

I think there are few, if any, public transportation systems that break even. As Frater said, they exist to move people around, they're not businesses.

True, but if they are publicly funded, and lose money to the point of needing to take money away from other publicly funded operations a reassessment of services is needed.

Also, people need to go to work. People don't need to go to Sox games.