528,007 is a record. 85,289 is not. Yet.
Hope everyone is doing well. Another short CRL article this week:)
Auckland's trains carried 528,007 passengers in the City Rail Link's first week (13 to 19 September).
That beats the previous weekly record of 504,380, set in March 2019. It is 62% more than the week before the CRL opened, when trains carried 325,203.
That is a very good first week. But...it is also only one week.
Below is a more detailed review on the numbers.
The record week was carried by the weekend
The busiest day was Thursday, with 85,289 boardings. The busiest day in 2019 was 6 March, with 87,092. So on weekdays we are close to the old peak but not past it. Weekdays averaged about 81,800. Saturday and Sunday added 118,820 between them, 22% of the week. People came out to try the new line.
There are two counts
The official figure for Thursday is 85,289. AT's door counters recorded 96,500 on the same day. That is a gap of about 11,000 people, or 13%. Some are fare-free or non-tagging passengers. Some are counting error. Whichever number becomes the headline, keep using the same one, or the trend will not mean anything.
Reliability is the real result
Punctuality held in the mid-to-high 90s all week and improved as the week went on. A new line that runs on time keeps its passengers. A new line that runs late loses them fast.
Three things to watch:
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Week six. Us Humans are interesting creatures...curiosity fades after the first few weeks. What matters is weekday boardings once the novelty has worn off. Six weeks seems to be the right amount of time - oddly the same time habits are formed lol!
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November and December. AT plans to run trains every 15 minutes until about 11pm to 11.30pm. Watch evening boardings once that starts. Feel numbers could be good with these extended times.
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Per head, not per week. Auckland has more people than it had in 2019. Matching the 2019 total is a start. Beating it per resident is the goal.
A record in week one shows people will try the CRL. Whether they are still using it in March will show if it works!
Keen to see what other numbers people are tracking.
Til next time,
P.S. in other news we were at a family gathering in Tauranga on the weekend for a 21st. It turned into an engagement celebration as well with son J proposing to his long-term girlfriend H. Busy time in our family, with a few birthdays, with two weddings on the cards and also one grandchild on the way! Feels like it is a gentle reminder to balance work, life, family and governance commitments well.
Also, a good time to reflect on priorities for the future. With my wife and I fast becoming empty nesters we are planning a motorhome trip from Malaysia through south east Asia and central Asia, through Europe to Scotland and back down through Africa in the next few years.
One of the best things about our work, and the governance roles is the flexibility to work from anywhere - will touch on the trip in a coming article - and also the international networks and friends the Olympic communities create. You feel welcome and have connections in most countries around the globe, it's an amazing and humbling experience:) for me this is the real legacy of the Olympics - peace and universality.
Alexandra de Navacelle I feel Pierre de Coubertin would be incredibly proud of this legacy he created, and how your family is keeping this well and truly alive!
Transit Trends · Andrew Collings, KA Advisory. Read and comment on the original on LinkedIn.
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