DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — People Downtown are very familiar with the DASH, the little buses that wind their way all over the Downtown area. Probably less know that there are actually two DASH systems in LA; Community DASH is right now nearing the end of an Needs Assessment Study, while the Downtown DASH will get the same treatment starting later this year. Reading through the Community DASH docs, though, you find the 2004 Performance Index, and this data's system-wide. There's some fascinating stuff if you're interested in transportation subsidies and passenger numbers. And, well, I am... Executive summary: It's a good thing they're taking a good hard look at the system, 'cause the Downtown DASHes are in the bottom half of lines.

Let's pull out just the information on the Downtown DASH routes:

Metrolink - Bunker Hill

1st in the overall rankings with a score of 1.92 (1.00 would be a theoretical average line). 82.91 passengers per revenue hour. This route cheats, though, since it only runs peak-hour service and connects specifically to Metrolink trains. 58.68% of the operating costs were covered via fares.

E (City West - Fashion District)

21st (0.92), with 53.85 pass/rev. hour and 17.05% farebox recovery.

F (Financial District - Expo Park/USC)

25th (0.85), with 45.27 pass/rev. hour and 14.22% farebox recovery.

D (Union Station - South Park)

34th (0.70), with 40.20 pass/rev. hour and 13.38% farebox recovery.

A (Little Tokyo - Convention Center)

37th (0.64), with 39.51 pass/rev. hour and 11.36% farebox recovery.

B (Chinatown - Financial District)

44th (0.57), with 39.76 pass/rev. hour and 11.61% farebox recovery.

C (Financial District - South Park)

49th out of 49, with a score of 0.34, 22.41 pass/rev. hour and a very low 6.48% farebox recovery.

I know Downtown DASH is looking to add night-time service as part of the system reworking, hopefully they'll also look to better connect the new residential locations to the system.