Not Riding The D-Qline - Detroit's Q-Line Ridership Drops When No Longer Free, Unexpectedly.

Who could have predicted that the Q-Line, a 3.3 mile streetcar line that moves about evenly with the speed of walking feet, would have a decline in ridership of almost half when it is no longer being provided to riders for free?

The Detroit News: QLine has fewer riders than expected, report says

M-1 Rail representatives had expected the line to average about 5,000 daily riders between Sept. 5, 2017 and Sept. 5, 2018 — the first full year of customers paying. But once passengers had to pay for passes to use the route which serves 12 locations on Woodward Avenue, totals dropped as much as 40 percent in the weeks that followed. The report released this week shows the route averaged 4,660 daily rides through October 2017, then 2,700 between November and March 2018.

Of course it's falling short of financial targets too, and even the financial target had it even been met meant a 4.6 million dollar deficit per year:

According to the analysis: “First-year revenue projections come close to the $1.2 million target with just under $1 million in through mid-April, and this number is fully expected to go up with projected increases in ridership.”

From September 2017 through April 2018, revenue at the fare box brought in $417,050, the report found. System expenses totaled $5.8 million for the first year.

Not to worry, the public side of the private-public partnership will no doubt make good on the losses.