Daily Herald opinion: Metra faces a big, and important, job getting commuters back on the trains
If it feels like you've been sitting in traffic a lot longer than you had been the last couple of years, you're right.
And if it feels like you have a lot fewer fellow riders in your Metra cabin than you used to see, you're right about that, too.
There's an obvious connection. COVID-19. With the start of the pandemic in early 2020, our work habits changed dramatically. Offices shut down. Employees who didn't lose their jobs found ways to work from home rather than drive into and out of the city. Expressway traffic opened up. Commuter train options shut down. Now, as the economy begins to reflect our new, more consistent habits, the impact is reflected in our transportation choices, and it's clear we've grown very comfortable with our cars.
How comfortable? Data analyst INRIX's Global Traffic Scorecard found Chicago commuters lose 155 hours a year to congestion, the worst experience of any city in America and the second worst of any city in the world. Even so, drivers have yet to return to mass transit.
If Metra reaches its goal for 2023, the rail line's ridership will still represent less than half what it was in 2019. As our Marni Pyke reported Thursday, the line's ridership plunged from 74 million trips in 2019 to just 14 million in 2021. It rebounded slightly to 24 million last year, and agency leaders said this week they're confident they can reach 35 million trips this year. But that's still just 47% of a figure that was common just four years ago.
During Metra's meeting, the Stan Lewis, CEO of Chicago advertising firm LKH&S, told board members his company is working to identify the reasons people are choosing their cars and emphasize the value Metra could offer.
"I'm trying to myself just get focused on breaking down those very specific barriers and (learn) why people think it's better to be in that car and start to gnaw away at that," said Lewis, whose company has contracts with Metra totaling about $12.8 million through 2025.
Citing a November 2022 survey, Lewis said researchers have found commuters are motivated most to choose their vehicles over the train by two factors: They feel safer in cars, and they want more flexibility to run errands. He said the agency's messaging will aim to address those factors, as well as other issues cited by board members, including Paul Ruffin, who said the agency must stress that the trains are "trustworthy, dependable and reliable."
Another factor also merits attention - the climate. All those expressway-clogging, exhaust-spewing vehicles add significantly to the pollution affecting our health and our planet.
Metra's chief goal, of course, must be to back up its messaging with trains that are safe, comfortable, convenient and on time. With that in mind, hopefully the agency can, as Lewis described the mission, change commuters' impression from seeing Metra as an alternative to seeing Metra as a primary choice.