by Metro Transit announced earlier this month that the light rail system changed to a two-car train system during weekends to reduce maintenance costs.
Metro Transit officials say the light rail hasn’t reached pre-COVID ridership numbers.
Riders on the Green Line are down 21% compared to 2019, and those on the Blue Line are down 33%.
East Bank Station had barely any foot traffic on Sunday compared with a weekday.
Diana Johnson, a second-year student, said typically on Mondays is really crowded and has to stand up when using the light rail.
On Monday, I asked people on campus if they use the light rail on weekends. The most common answer was “no.”
Metro Transit says the two-car system will reduce unnecessary wear-and-tear on the light rail cars, saving half a million dollars yearly on maintenance costs.
In 2022, Metro Transit tried a two-car approach for a short time, driven by concerns for rider safety, which is still an issue.
Another issue is wait times. Dante Smith uses the light rail every day, but during weekends he prefers riding his bike because of the wait times.
“It seems like it takes a lot longer for the train to come compared to during the weekdays,” said Smith.
With the new system, Metro Transit aims to provide more frequent service, every 12 minutes instead of 15 minutes by the end of summer.
On June 15, weekday service will also be reduced to two cars.
“I think it’s gonna be a bad idea because, like I said, it’s already crowded with three carts, and two carts is gonna make that worse,” said Johnson.
Metro Transit said the trains will have three cars for major events like concerts or major sporting events.
