Last one, I promise, unless I get assurances the rules here have changed to allow me to respond as vigorously as Novacek and his ilk attack.
https://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/20...-a-slow-start/
"When MetroRapid opened, it essentially replaced two routes along the same stretch of road. The new rapid option costs more, with less frequent stops, and as a result ridership on the new route has been weak. Comparing average weekday ridership between those two routes and the MetroRapid route (and an additional feeder route) in the spring months between the years 2013 and 2014, ridership has actually fallen 11 percent."
This was a disproprotionate drop at the time.
http://kut.org/post/after-ridership-...pid-bus-system
"The rapid buses, however, started on time and under budget. But six months after the launch of the first rapid line, ridership in its corridor is down 16 percent from two years ago during the same period. (You can view the ridership numbers obtained by KUT below.)
"We certainly didn't want that to happen. We hoped that wouldn’t happen. But it did happen," says Todd Hemingson, Vice President of strategic planning and development with Capital Metro.
So why, after premiering shiny new buses with plenty of features, did ridership go down in the corridor?"
http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/...e-shuffle-bus/
I was quoted for that story, by the way. I put my name on things, and am accountable for them. At the time Novacek actually attempted to claim in response something along the lines of that Cap Metro must have left out the 275 (even though they themselves did not argue with the numbers presented).
It's also important to note that Cap Metro's own PR people, when presented with ample opportunities to defend their agency by claiming that the drop was not disproportionate, did not do so. In none of the instances above, when interviewed by friendly people who very much wanted to find a better answer, none was supplied.
Again, I am not going to get back in this forum on a regular basis unless I am assured the rules have changed to allow me to respond as vigorously as I feel I'm attacked, so please enjoy Novacek from here on out.
Your pal,
M1EK