BOSTON REGION METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION Richard A. Davey, MassDOT Secretary and CEO and MPO Chairman Karl H. Quackenbush, Executive Director, MPO Staff MEMORANDUM DATE December 21, 2012 TO David Mohler, Executive Director of Planning Office of Transportation Planning, MassDOT FROM Thomas J. Humphrey, Chief Planner, Transit Service Planning Central Transportation Planning Staff RE MBTA Commuter Rail Passenger Count Results INTRODUCTION This memorandum summarizes the results of passenger counts conducted by CTPS on the MBTA commuter rail system between January and June 2012, and provides recommendations concerning the nature and frequency of future counts. Those counts included the number of passengers boarding and alighting from each train in each direction at each station on each line on one weekday. This level of detail is useful for many planning purposes but is not currently obtainable by any method other than manual counting. The data collected by CTPS were compared to several types of MBTA commuter rail ridership and ridership-related data that have historically been collected on an ongoing basis. The purpose of the comparison was to newly assess the accuracy of those ridership data and to inform recommendations regarding the nature and frequency of future counts. The data compared were: • Monthly ticket and pass sales figures • Daily conductor headcounts • Train Audits from the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR) that are more detailed than the conductor headcounts and are performed by conductors several times each year • MBCR peak-period passenger counts conducted at selected stations by consultants to MBCR twice each year1 1 A description of each type of data can be found in Appendix D, Glossary of Terms, and a full explanation of the various types of commuter rail passenger count methodologies can be found in section 6 of this memorandum, Limitations of Other Commuter Rail Ridership Information Sources. State Transportation Building • Ten Park Plaza, Suite 2150 • Boston, MA 02116-3968 Tel. (617) 973-7100 • Fax (617) 973-8855 • TTY (617) 973-7089 • www.bostonmpo.org David Mohler, MassDOT 2 December 21, 2012 The complete CTPS 2012 count results for each commuter rail line are presented in an attached series of maps and tables. To the extent possible, counts were taken on what were believed to be representative days. The boarding and alighting counts were used to calculate loads on each train at each location along each route. In addition to the tables showing boardings, alighting and loads for each train at each station (Appendix A), CTPS produced a set of tables showing estimated all-day trips from each station to each other station on the same line (Appendix B). These estimates were based on the relative importance of each station on each line in total boardings and total alightings on that line, in the same way that trip tables for other services have been produced in the past. Finally, the CTPS 2012 composite one-day counts of passengers on the MBTA commuter rail system are summarized on two maps that show typical inbound weekday boardings and outbound weekday alightings by station (Figure 1 and Figure 2, respectively). Analysis of these counts led to the following findings: • 104,384 passengers rode commuter rail in both directions combined each weekday. • Of the total 104,384 weekday riders observed, 38,545, or 36.9%, were on North Side lines and 65,839, or 63.1%, were on South Side lines. • The two-way total ridership by line and branch, from highest to lowest, was: 1. Providence/Stoughton 21,497 2. Newburyport/Rockport 14,003 3. Framingham/Worcester 12,787 4. Franklin 10,080 5. Lowell 9,627 6. Fitchburg 7,924 7. Haverhill 6,991 8. Needham 5,814 9. Kingston/Plymouth 5,513 10. Middleborough/Lakeville 5,006 11. Greenbush 4,353 12. Fairmount 789 • For the commuter rail system overall, 81.2% of inbound ridership was on AM peak trains and 72.8% of outbound ridership was on PM peak trains. • 95.5% of riders were making through trips (to or from North Station, South Station, Back Bay, or other stations in fare Zone 1A) and 4.5% were making interzone trips. These percentages varied among lines, depending partly on the number of intermediate stations and the land use in proximity to these stations (see Appendix C, MBTA Commuter Rail Fare-Zone Map). FIGURE 1 Commuter Rail System Map Typical Inbound Weekday Boardings Winter/Spring 2012 Haverhill 386 Newburyport 538 Bradford 206 Rowley 77 1590 Lowell Lawrence 536 Ipswich 380 786 North Billerica Hamilton/Wenham Rockport 174 Andover 354 476 Wilmington 238 Gloucester 341 Ballardvale 146 287 Fitchburg 857 Anderson / Woburn North Beverly West Gloucester 51 210 211 North Leominster 29 Mishawum North Wilmington 64 Manchester 186 154 Shirley Beverly Farms 118 Reading 797 Prides Crossing 12 249 Ayer 455 Winchester Center Montserrat 208 205 Littleton / Rte 495 Wakefield 484 285 Wedgemere Beverly 1339 681 South Acton Greenwood 126 323 West Concord Salem 1914 414 Brandeis510 / Roberts West Medford Melrose Highlands 178 365 Concord 281 Porter Square Melrose Cedar Park Swampscott 670 171 Lincoln 369 Waltham67 Waverley 135 56 Belmont Lynn 411 7 Silver Hill Wyoming Hill 61 27 Hastings Malden 16 River Works 24 88 Kendal Green West Newton 162 Chelsea 67 Auburndale 160 Newtonville 250 North Station 13 Yawkey 407 BackSouth Bay Station 263 Wellesley Farms 231 Wellesley Hills Needham Heights 254 Ruggles 17 Uphams Corner 48 483 Wellesley Square Needham Center 180 558 Natick Morton Street 64 780 West Natick Fairmount 123 534 Hyde Park JFK/UMASS 2 886 Framingham Readville 141 429 Ashland 513 Hersey Quincy Center 84 248 Bellevue Readville 189 289 Highland 66 Forest Hills Endicott 247 Southborough 416 347 West Roxbury Westborough 463 386 Needham Junction 353 Roslindale VillageDedham Corp. Center 370 80 Islington 92 Braintree North Scituate 336 Grafton 358 Weymouth EastLanding Weymouth / West 464 HinghamNantasket 209 JunctionCohasset 167 253 Route 128 1286 308 Norwood Depot East Braintree 310 Worcester / Union Station 915 Greenbush 405 928 Norwood Central 338 Holbrook/Randolph 270 Windsor Gardens 1125 Canton Junction 9 Plimptonville Montello 321 Canton Center 380 1125 Sharon South Weymouth 413 635 Walpole Stoughton 776 Brockton 290 Abington 572 618 Norfolk 1734 Mansfield Whitman 415 524 Franklin Campello 294 Hanson 382 674 Forge Park / 495 1335 Attleboro Plymouth 21 Halifax 293 916 South Attleboro Bridgewater 550 Kingston 627 1374 Providence 157 TF Green Airport Middleboro / Lakeville 616 FIGURE 2 Commuter Rail System Map Typical Outbound Weekday Alightings Winter/Spring 2012 Haverhill 336 Newburyport 503 Bradford 197 Rowley 70 1492 Lowell Lawrence 537 Ipswich 335 681 North Billerica Hamilton/Wenham Rockport 168 Andover 352 468 Wilmington 253 Gloucester 317 Ballardvale 177 308 Fitchburg 794 Anderson / Woburn North Beverly West Gloucester 40 163 189 North Leominster 26 Mishawum North Wilmington 80 Manchester 144 156 Shirley Beverly Farms 104 Reading 732 Prides Crossing 13 242 Ayer 446 Winchester Center Wakefield 500 Montserrat 198 225 Littleton / Rte 495 270 Wedgemere Beverly 1549 613 South Acton Greenwood 146 347 West Concord Salem 1945 464 Brandeis462 / Roberts West Medford Melrose Highlands 192 335 Concord 209 Porter Square Melrose Cedar Park Swampscott 735 177 Lincoln 377 Waltham95 Waverley 129 92 Belmont Lynn 402 8 Silver Hill Wyoming Hill 98 11 Hastings Malden 26 River Works 31 121 Kendal Green West Newton 215 Chelsea 75 Auburndale 172 Newtonville 287 North Station 19 Yawkey 408 Back Bay 232 Wellesley Farms South Station 250 Wellesley Hills Needham Heights 306 Ruggles 38 Uphams Corner 35 422 Wellesley Square Needham Center 229 538 Natick Morton Street 88 788 West Natick Fairmount 147 400 Hyde Park JFK/UMASS 2 856 Framingham Readville 143 467 Ashland 500 Hersey Readville 212 Quincy Center 134 348 Highland234 Bellevue 109 ForestEndicott Hills 268 Southborough 435 449 West Roxbury Westborough 397 328 Needham Junction 442 Roslindale VillageDedham Corp. Center 382 87 Islington 81 Braintree North Scituate 229 Grafton 360 Weymouth EastLanding Weymouth / West 454 HinghamNantasket 210 JunctionCohasset 167 213 Route 128 1287 277 Norwood Depot East Braintree 364 Worcester / Union Station 841 Greenbush 422 863 Norwood Central 369 Holbrook/Randolph 255 Windsor Gardens 1079 Canton Junction 16 Plimptonville Montello 291 Canton Center 535 1041 Sharon South Weymouth 374 602 Walpole Stoughton 724 Brockton 347 Abington 539 689 Norfolk 1526 Mansfield Whitman 370 596 Franklin Campello 324 Hanson 390 709 Forge Park / 495 1315 Attleboro Plymouth 22 Halifax 301 1110 South Attleboro Bridgewater 526 Kingston 621 1366 Providence 148 TF Green Airport Middleboro / Lakeville 598 David Mohler, MassDOT 5 December 21, 2012 • Imbalances in the inbound and outbound splits of ridership between Back Bay and South Station in the 2012 counts and other counts indicate that significant numbers of passengers who use Back Bay for inbound alightings use South Station for outbound boardings. • The CTPS count results are consistent with estimates based on pass and ticket sales figures and with results of peak-period passenger counts conducted by consultants for MBCR, currently the operator of the MBTA’s commuter rail system. Train Audit report numbers produced by MBCR are much higher than the totals determined by other methods. It can be stated with certainty that actual average ridership is lower than the total indicated by recent Train Audit reports, which indicate about 150,000 if outbound ridership, which is not included in those reports, is assumed to be about the same as inbound Train Audit totals. • Commuter rail passenger counts at the level of detail provided by the 2012 CTPS counts should not need to be repeated on a regular basis. It would, however, be advisable to conduct special counts in conjunction with projects pertaining to specific stations, trains, or routes. This memorandum is divided into the following parts: 1. Reasons for Conducting the CTPS 2012 Commuter Rail Passenger Counts 2.