Retro Metro -- March 28, 1986 -- system stats of the day

[coneyraven]

METRO RIDERS IN A HURRY AND LOYAL TO THEIR TRAIN
Prince George's Journal

People who ride the Metro have several things in common:  They have places to go and they have things to do.
Ane they're in a hurry.

Russell Allen has straddled his red bicycle every weekday morning since 1978 to ride the one mile from his Lanham home to the New Carrollton Metro station where he takes the Orange Line to work at the Federal Triangle.

"I wouldn't even think of driving in to work.  I like the Metro.  You can come and go as you please," said Allen.

Elsie Barnes of Clinton has taken the Blue Line to work since she realized last March that it was faster to drive 14 miles to the Addison Road station and ride the rail for 30 minutes than to drive 17 miles to Washington.

"If you can get to a Metro and miss all that congestion, it's invaluable," said Barnes.  "If they put one on Branch Avenue, it would be even more invaluable."

Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority riders tok 110.3 million trips in 1985.  The majority were commuting to and from work.  The rest were shopping, going to school, taking care of personal business or sightseeing.

Estelle Shorts of Glenarden takes the Orange Line to work three times a week and to the doctor once a week.

The Metro is an emergency mode of transportation for Larry Powell of Forestville, who took a rare ride on the Blue Line while the windshield on his car was being replaced Wednesday.

And Steve and Margot Ciotti of Huntingtown said they took the Blue Line to the circus because 3-year-old Jason Ciotti prefers trains to cars.

Indications are that those who try it, stick with the rail system.  Many this week said that without Metro, their first transportation choice would be a bus, then a car, which some first would have to buy.

"I would never drive my car downtown," said Linda Ferguson of Suitland.  Ferguson, who has lived in the area fr 29 years, said she did not take a job in Washington or even visit until after Metro was installed.  "This is the only way," she said.

The only change in ridership in the eight-year history of Metro rail in Prince George's is that "it continues to grow," according to county transit administrator Dee Allison.  There has been a generally steady increase in ridership on the Orange and Blue Lines, which opened in 1978 and 1980 respectively, Allison said.

Daily boardings on the Blue Line increased from 4,297 in 1981 to 6,800 in 1985.  On the Orange Line, the number of people who boarded went from 10,787 in 1980 to 11,900 in 1985, according to Allison.  Total ridership in Prince George's in 1985 was 53,414 a day.Allison said recent rises can be traced in part to riders from Anne Arundel, Charls and Howard counties.  And summer tourists push the numbers up at New Carrollton.  Allison said fluctuations in ridership generally have followed the addition of bus service or parkingspaces, and ridership is stable at present.