Once again, Kenneth Chan indulges in his fetish for transit (and that’s a good thing!) – this time by delving into the numbers for the B-Line. Go here for the complete list (and thank you, Vancity Buzz for indulging Kenneth).
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Here are some numbers of the 99 B-Line’s performance over the last three years, provided by TransLink in its 2013 Bus Service Performance Review:
Annual boardings
- 2011: 16,384,000
- 2012: 16,879,000
- 2013: 17,054,000
- Rank (2013): 1 of 206
Annual cost to operate the route:
- 2011: $8,578,000
- 2012: $9,412,000
- 2013: $9,435,000
- Rank (2013): 1 of 217
Annual hours the bus is in service (revenue hour):
- 2011: 87,500
- 2012: 96,000
- 2013: 96,300
- Rank (2013): 1 of 217
Cost per boarded passenger:
- 2011: $0.52
- 2012: $0.56
- 2013: $0.55
- Rank (2013): 1 of 206
Average capacity utilization (passenger turnover):
- 2011: 179%
- 2012: 167%
- 2013: 168%
- Rank (2013): 6 of 204
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Complete list and story here.
I’d assume there’s pretty high fare evasion on the B-Line, given that entry is allowed through all doors, and there seems to be little fare-checking under the crowded conditions most of the day. So is that 55 cents per boarded passenger real revenue? And how will the Compass Card operation affect the flow of passengers in and out? Will there need to be some form of pre-payment on the sidewalk or in loading bays, rather like lines in South America?
Unanswered, as well, is confirmation of that oft-repeated line: “The B-Line is the busiest bus route in North America.”
Can anyone answer that?
Since riders can enter through the rear doors (pass or no pass), how does Translink count boardings? Same for Skytrain, do they just do random counts?
And is that 55 cents Cost per Boarded Passenger, ranked #1 of 206, the highest cost or lowest cost? (I presume the latter.)
From the report:
Cost per boarded passenger measures the cost of providing revenue service compared to the total number of passengers using that service [Annual Service Cost /Annual Boardings]. Cost per boarded passenger considers the length of time a vehicle is in service and the different operating costs per vehicle type. It also considers passenger boardings, but should not be confused with cost recovery as it does not include fare revenue from ridership.
Negative changes to cost per boarded passenger indicate cost savings, which have a positive effect on bus performance. For this reason, a negative trend under this metric is highlighted as a positive performance outcome in this report.
And yes, ranked #1 means it is the lowest cost.
Hi Gordon,
What I found for comparison the highest ridership line in Chicago is the 9 Ashland and it averages 800,000 boardings per month which is a little short of 10 million boarding a year which is significantly less than the 99B-line.
(source: http://www.rtams.org/rtams/ridershipSummary.jsp?month=5&year=2013&dayTypeID=0&dataset=ctaBus)
In New York City the “M15Lcl/SBS” line has an annual ridership of 17,065,446 in 2013 which technically edges out the 99B-line by 11,446 riders or a variation of 0.006%
which to me is pretty much a rounding error. So I’d say they can claim to sharing the title of busiest bus route in North America until someone can find something else that has a higher ridership.
The “B46” line in Brooklyn was next closest at 15,507,651 annual ridership.
(Source: http://web.mta.info/nyct/facts/ridership/ridership_bus_annual.htm)
Cheers,
Gwendal
I think the New York stat includes the M15 local and M15 SBS (rapid transit bus). So you would need to include the 9 + the 99 B-line to have a fair comparison. The 9 carries another 8,464,000 passengers per year (Translink’s 4th busiest route).
It’s also worth pointing out that the M15 runs down 2nd Avenue where they’re currently tunnelling NYC’s latest subway line.
“Local bus routes are just as crowded during various times of the day, with the surface Second Avenue Line, carrying the M15 and M15 SBS buses, seeing an annual ridership of 17.5 million, or a daily ridership of about 47,945.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Avenue_Subway
Canadianveggie good point the 9 bus certainly adds a lot to the case for a subway. Particularly if the M15 and M15 SBD is 8 million riders less and being replaced by a subway.
San Francisco 39 Geary is the busiest route in SF with 56,000 riders a day counted in 2006 (!) — that’s a combined total for local, limited stop, a express and b express routes. http://archives.sfmta.com/cms/rtep/tepdataindx.htm San Francisco is putting BRT on Geary Blvd.