California State Rail Plan 2005-06 to 2015-16

2005-06 – 2015-16 California State Rail Plan
10/26/97 Los Angeles-San Diego: ninth round-trip restored and tenth roundtrip
added.
10/25/98 Los Angeles-San Diego: eleventh round-trip added.
5/21/01 Los Angeles-San Diego: twelfth Friday through Sunday round-trip
added.
11/17/04 Los Angeles-San Luis Obispo: second round-trip added (fifth roundtrip,
Los Angeles-Santa Barbara).
HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE
Figure 6B shows ridership and financial performance data on an annual basis from
the start of State-supported service in 1976-77 through 2004-05. Ridership and
farebox return climbed steadily, with the years 1987-88 through 1992-93
experiencing particularly strong ridership growth and financial strength.
The farebox ratio was near or over 100 percent for these six consecutive years, and
ridership peaked at 1.8 million in 1992-93, and did not again reach this level until
2002-03.
However, introduction of Metrolink commuter rail service in the Los Angeles
basin in October 1992 and Coaster commuter rail service in the San Diego area in
1995 had a negative effect on ridership. In 1995, Amtrak also increased the
amount and type of costs charged to the State, with a negative effect on farebox
return. Farebox return reached a low of 33.9 percent in 1997-98.
But overall ridership on the corridor has increased significantly in recent years,
offsetting the initial impacts of the new commuter services. Ridership reached
two million in 2002-03, and farebox return has been over 50 percent since
2000-01. The introduction of the “Rail 2 Rail” Program on Amtrak and Metrolink
service in September 2004 and in April 2004 on the Coaster has caused a large
increase in ridership. The program allows joint ticket honoring between Amtrak
and commuter rail services. Ridership reached a peak of 2.5 million in 2004-05,
a 40 percent increase over 2001-02 ridership (the year before the introduction of
Rail 2 Rail).
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