Assessing urban rail transit ridership and system sustainability in Los Angeles, USA and Rotterdam, The Netherlands

As current trends show urbanization of metropolitan areas increasing, so too, does the amount of automobiles congesting the urban fabric of cities around the world. This has been created as society sprawls toward the periphery for cheaper land with longer commutes toward the economic center. Local government then, constructs public transit infrastructure in an effort to decrease automobile use around its surrounding region. As infrastructure projects are completed, there still lies a congestion problem within and around the urban region with most governments increasing recurring highway expansion to cater to society. Urban rail transit has shown the ability to provide for the mobility needs of large urban regions with the help of contingent multi-modal policies and measures. Coupled by a societal modal choice selection of the private automobile, this studies main objective is to assess the ways that local governments and transit authorities can implement specific policies and strategic measures toward increasing urban rail transit ridership in Los Angeles and Rotterdam. This international comparison will drive further analysis and information regarding the differences between American and European transit planning practices. In order to establish a well formulated research structure, the following study has utilized literature documents such as policy referendums and contextual studies from local, regional, and national governments as well as in-depth interviews of government and transit authorities. This triangulation approach of various authorities and levels of such has warranted a case for solid research results and findings. In order to gain a comparative perspective of such urban rail transit systems in Los Angeles and Rotterdam, a set of criteria are explained. The LA Metro system currently operates 2 heavy rail and 3 light rail lines with average total weekday boardings consisting of 301,501. Rather, Rotterdam's RET system consists of 5 heavy rail and 9 tram lines averaging weekday ridership of 509,600. With an urban population 16% the size of LA, Rotterdam outperforms urban rail transit ridership by 70%. These numbers have been accomplished through indicators (policies and measures) drawn out within this studies conceptual spider models. The major findings that have shown to increase ridership have been granted toward the use of parking standards, transit oriented development, fare pricing, and mobility management. LA has achieved a 16.7% increase in urban rail transit ridership over the past 5 years from 2006-2010, but still has yet to achieve higher levels as in Rotterdam. With varying governmental and transit authority levels, Rotterdam has accomplished a greater coverage and modal choice selection over LA. As LA consists of a single transit agency, future increases toward urban rail transit ridership can be accomplished with great success. Congruently, a sustainability assessment as to each cities rail systems was conducted and has shown that Rotterdam's choice in purchasing electricity from a company that produces 100% renewable energy has provided great benefit for future generations in an effort to achieve their goal of a 50% reduction in emissions by 2025. Congruently, LA is also attempting to tackle climate change through expensive internal measures that have concluded costly in nature with little change toward a climate difference. Overall, for Rotterdam to achieve further increases in urban rail transit ridership, policies and measures along with minimal infrastructure can be the solution as current rail infrastructure supply are apparent and working well. As with the case of LA, the need to couple increased rail infrastructure supply with policies and measures that lead toward a multi-modal split for system integration are critical in the coming years. In the end, policies and measures are never going to be enough, but rather warrant the need for a systematic connection with infrastructure implementation and placement to reach a more sustainable public transport system in the future.