UPDATED: From List of North American rapid transit systems by ridership – 2012 (Previous numbers were from 2010.)
Vancouver, at 2,313,328 people in Metro, is the 34th largest metropolitan area in North America – between Pittsburgh and Portland.
SkyTrain’s daily ridership is 396,500
If you consider SkyTrain a light-rail system, it is No. 1 on the continent – significantly above that of the busiest American light-rail line: the MBTA Green Line in Boston at 222,500.
If you consider SkyTrain a rapid-transit line comparable to the New York or Toronto subways, it’s No. 10th in North America, between the Metrorrey in Mexico (417,032) and SEPTA in Philadelphia (339,700).
For the 34th largest metro area.
Of course we are comparing ourselves (largely) with the US, a global outlier with extremely low transit ridership. We do very well in these peewee rankings. It is time to set our aspirations a bit higher.
I have mixed feelings about this. I tend to compare against North American systems all the time because we are most similar to other North American (or Australian/Kiwi) cities. But as Eric rightly points out that is not setting the bar as high as we could…..That said even in versus other North American systems we still have some room for improvement. Also I don’t think it is appropriate to compare strictly on the basis of a single transit mode. We should be looking at all transit modes including things like buses, ferries and ‘commuter rail.’ Vancouver would still perform well with an inclusive comparison of transit systems but it would show a slightly different picture.
I did not check but I am surprised that Montreal Metro would only have ~500,000ish riders.
The Montreal Metro figure is questionable. It has more than twice Vancouver’s ridership.
Boston’s figure is also questionable because it separates two complementary systems, its light rail and subway, and compares each to Vancouver’s ridership.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_rapid_transit_systems_by_ridership
Here is a link to a list of North American rapid transit systems by ridership. It puts us in 10th but within easy shooting range of 8th. Montreal has us beat by a long shot. So…still room for improvement but still pretty good.
I just can’t seem to stop…..Minor point note that both the Evergreen line and Broadway line would be extensions off the Millenium line so when we say the Broadway line will have 300,000 plus riders in 2041 that is still counting the Millenium line riders that already exist, it does not mean that 300,000 plus boardings will be generated between VCC and UBC. At least that is how I read the ridership numbers from the study.
If you sort using the column “Riders per mile” – SkyTrain is still 8th – ahead of Washington DC, Boston, Chicago(!) and San Fransisco BaRT (although BaRT is hybrid RT / commuter rail so has more route miles), among others.
(i.e. Monterrey’s metro is only 20 miles long, compared to SkyTrain’s 43 miles – not a valid comparison unless you factor the length of the system. Monterrey is 4th based on riders per mile – after NYC, Mexico City and Toronto.)
We just need to start prioritizing public transit as we do “motor-dom” projects by quantifying the benefits and seeking them the same way! It won’t be highways keeping us competitive going forward, but quality and ease of life in our cities with accessible and efficient public transit….now if we can only get some dollars for Translink…
SkyTrain really must be considered a metro (or light metro to be specific) system first given that its requirement for a fully grade-separated right-of-way is a fundamental characteristic that it shares with metros rather than more flexible LRT systems. Obviously this delivers benefits in system performance but it also requires a higher level of investment and so makes comparisons with most LRT systems rather apples-oranges.
SkyTrain is as light a metro as the Paris Metro and nobody calls theirs a light metro.
Paris Metro trains are about 25 cm narrower than SkyTrain Mark II cars. Aside from Line 1 and 4, which were extended from 75 m to 90 m in the 1960s, and Line 14, which opened in the 1990s, Paris Metro platforms are 75 m long, 5 m shorter than Expo and Millennium Line platforms.
The main difference is that stations here are spaced more than twice as far apart.