New Cap Metro rail director sees growth

KXAN (AUSTIN) - The new Cap Metro rail director has only been on the job for eight weeks, but he's already seeing a new challenge.

"I think right now the biggest challenge we're faced with is growth," said Melvin Clark. "It's a good one to be at capacity constraint, which is not uncommon. We just have to be wise about using our resources and seeking to maximize the number of seats that are available during appropriate travel times."

Last year, ridership hovered around 850 per day. In January, that number jumped to an average of 1,018. In February, the average was 1,274. And in March, thanks in part to the increased service times to accomodate the large South by SouthWest crowds, the March average is already over 2,000 per day.

KXAN rode on the MetroRail with Clark Thursday afternoon. From Kramer Station to the Downtown station there were no riders around the 5 o'clock hour. However, from the Downtown station back North to Kramer, there were so many people, some had to stand.

"The biggest thing we've done is started offering midday service," Clark said. "Giving our customers more options have certainly been the driver for that. Certainly fuel prices going up has helped."

KXAN caught up with Seth Gardner as he got on board at the Downtown station, carrying his bike on board with him. Gardner rides the rail often and doesn't mind the increased number of passengers.

"I ride all the way from Lakeline," he said. "I do a combo. A lot of times I ride my bike to work. And just for the cost of riding the rail, $5.50 for the whole day. Ride all the way down and combo that with my bike. I don't have to worry about parking. I don't have to worry about gas, traffic. It's a good deal."

So, what are the options to curb the growth?

"Whether it's buying modifications to these cars and adding another section which can expand the car to hold more people, or looking at additional rail vehicles. Those are all on the table right now," he said. "Those are all preliminary discussions."