Fiscal and ridership questions about the Ramsey Star Express were posed earlier. Here. Brian Olson had indicated a response was being prepared, and I have that response now.
First, what Brian Olson had to say, then a photo montage of images from the LSA Design website. As a "know something about your City's consultants' activity" measure, you can navigate the "Ramsey" parts of the lsadesigninc.com website, starting here, here and here.
I value Brian's response, as fair and level, credible and terse. As a coach service that only began earlier this year, it realistically should not be expected to be in a net-payback net-earning posture, or a net-deficit level, for now in any way that would have long term forecast revelance or use. I think that is clear from what Brian says. I post his full email text, then the photos - no dissection or carping. I had a few disjointed follow-up questions not of general concern, so this probably is the last I will post on Star Express.
If you commute downtown, with no need for an auto during the day, and a job that will always excuse you to leave on time during the scheduled evening trips to Ramsey; then it's a fine deal to try. Few fit those criteria, and that is why I see merit to the Watchdog's "Dump the Train, Add a Lane" suggestion. Fixing Highway 10 would help more people for the amount spent; or that would be my guess. NorthStar would always have a limited ridership unless and until a full rapid transit grid is in existence. That takes time, one piece at a time, and whether NorthStar is the next right piece is the entire question.
Brian explains:
Let me start by expressing my appreciation for your interest in Ramsey's Star Express. The Ramsey Star Express, as you are aware, is a new service which was initiated back in January. This service was made possible by a grant from the Metropolitan Council and the City of Ramsey. Anoka County operates this service for a contracted fee every month.
Every new service takes time to build ridership. In the first month of service, the service has just under 500 riders and an operating cost of $20.25 per rider. Since this wasn't a complete month of operation, I will give you the statistics for the first full month. February experienced over 1400 riders and an operation cost of $16.15 per rider. As our ridership increases, our operating cost per rider decreases.
Since Anoka County operates the Northstar Commuter Coach we have access to information about their ridership experience and are the beneficiaries of their expertise in operating that service. They have indicated that the ridership during the summer months drops off slightly for a number of reasons (vacations, holidays, weather conditions, etc.) Even with the summer drop in numbers our ridership in July of 2007 has increased to almost 2,000 riders and the operating cost per rider dropped to $12.56.
As to your question about whether the service is "making or losing money", I would suggest to you that there are not too many multimodal options that "make money". The federal grant that I mentioned in the first paragraph that was awarded to this service from the Metropolitan Council pays for 80% of the costs associated with the service. This grant makes it possible to operate the service which allows the City of Ramsey to build ridership along the corridor reducing the number of vehicles on Trunk Highway 10. We know that this is not the solution to our congestion problems but it is a step in the right direction.
Our excitement about the project comes with a financial commitment as well. The City has agreed to commit a maximum of $310,000 (20%) over the course of the next 3 years to assist in operation of this service. Our hope is that ridership will continue to rise each month allowing us to not only have lower cost but also to have better justification for a station located within the Town Center in the future.
I hope this e-mail has answered the questions you had and hasn't just generated more questions. Again, thank you for your interest in the Ramsey Star Express.
It speaks for itself.
Now the montage, including a walking time diagram, photos or elevated graphics renderings - appearing to be photos, a rendering of the ramp showing a planned covered pedestrian overpass to the area's planned bus stop, and a layout picture. [Terminology: I do not use the wording "transit hub" or whatever designer-speak they prefer to use in anticipation of NorthStar. For now "bus stop" is totally accurate]:
NOTE: I think the landscaping on the second pic might have been "doctored" or the camera angle very artfully chosen. The image of a coach was probably added in the third. That last thing I am fairly sure of. The photo is from the construction phase of City Hall, near the end, but with the pair of port-a-pot kiosks in the parking lot, the corner of the red debris dumpster showing, and the white contractors' trailer nearer to the building. For sure, Ramsey Star Express was not operational then. The push was going on to get something like that before the election vote, a date not met. And was the grass that green back then? I don't believe so. I think the fourth picture might have added walkway texturizing, and a bus coach. It conveys the thought, even if not via an unaltered image. Here's a pic I took, dated 10/24/06 - same scene, no bus service back then however, the move from Nowthen Blvd had been started, not finished.
