Ridership declined by 24.3%, or 4.5 million rides, in 2021 compared to 2020, according to the agency's audited financial statements. Metra provided 14.1 million rides in 2021 compared to 18.6 million rides in 2020. In 2019, Metra provided 74 million rides.
Video Killed the Railroad Star Long a shining star in the realm of government operated railroads, Metra had a well-earned reputation for both service and accountability. More recently, the agency’s reputation has been tarnished by scandal and the rolling hasn’t been nearly a smooth as it formerly appeared to be. Metra has its issues, for sure, such as the expensive government procurement process that guarantees that Metra will pay far more for its purchases and projects than private sector business. Metra suffers from an addiction to OPM, playing around with battery locomotives that have no real utility to the carrier,… Read more »
Last edited 3 years ago by The Railroader
Platinum Goose
3 years ago
Commuting on Metra still sucks. It’s to be expected when Mike Madigan picked all the people that work there. They still haven’t figured out that the direction of all the escalators at Union Station need to change in the morning and afternoon.
Last edited 3 years ago by Platinum Goose
Ataraxis
3 years ago
These ridership numbers do not look like they can keep Metra viable long term.
Kastle Systems only has Chicago at an average office occupancy rate of 41.6%.
Wait until downtown businesses stop renewing their leases or reduce their square footage. https://www.kastle.com/safety-wellness/getting-america-back-to-work/
Lion's Choice
3 years ago
All of the former Loop workers who were going to return to their office have already done so. The rest have quit, retired, or are working remote. Metra needs to find a way to accept the new reality
My spouse’s downtown employer is having trouble filling long open positions because they require 2-3 days a week in office time. Candidates say downtown is too far to commute and far too dangerous for people to be using public trans before or after rush hour. This is going to be a problem going forward until the job market craters. We’ll see if employers get that leverage back, or, will the best candidates still want mostly remote work.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.
Video Killed the Railroad Star Long a shining star in the realm of government operated railroads, Metra had a well-earned reputation for both service and accountability. More recently, the agency’s reputation has been tarnished by scandal and the rolling hasn’t been nearly a smooth as it formerly appeared to be. Metra has its issues, for sure, such as the expensive government procurement process that guarantees that Metra will pay far more for its purchases and projects than private sector business. Metra suffers from an addiction to OPM, playing around with battery locomotives that have no real utility to the carrier,… Read more »
Commuting on Metra still sucks. It’s to be expected when Mike Madigan picked all the people that work there. They still haven’t figured out that the direction of all the escalators at Union Station need to change in the morning and afternoon.
These ridership numbers do not look like they can keep Metra viable long term.
Kastle Systems only has Chicago at an average office occupancy rate of 41.6%.
Wait until downtown businesses stop renewing their leases or reduce their square footage.
https://www.kastle.com/safety-wellness/getting-america-back-to-work/
All of the former Loop workers who were going to return to their office have already done so. The rest have quit, retired, or are working remote. Metra needs to find a way to accept the new reality
My spouse’s downtown employer is having trouble filling long open positions because they require 2-3 days a week in office time. Candidates say downtown is too far to commute and far too dangerous for people to be using public trans before or after rush hour. This is going to be a problem going forward until the job market craters. We’ll see if employers get that leverage back, or, will the best candidates still want mostly remote work.