Freebie Flyer : Metrolink’s Promotional Rides From Riverside Break Records

Who would figure that a train ride would be crazier than a shoe sale at Nordstrom, the first day of ticket sales for an Aerosmith concert, or scientists fleeing for their lives at Jurassic Park?

Passengers in record numbers have been jostling, crowding and pushing for free rides on the new Metrolink commuter trains from Riverside to Los Angeles. Offer a freebie, and they will come. And they are, in numbers greater than those drawn by any previous Metrolink freebies offered as it tries to coax Southern Californians off freeways.

Train cars designed to seat 150 passengers are crowded with more than 350. Police are assigned to the loading platforms in downtown Riverside to enforce some semblance of etiquette. One passenger hurt her elbow when she was trying to get off the train and was overrun by people clambering aboard.

On Wednesday, more than 3,000 passengers boarded the last train on the last day of 2 1/2 weeks of promotional free rides on Metrolink from Riverside to downtown Los Angeles.

More than half of Wednesday’s passengers had to content themselves with the aisles. Some stood; others planted themselves on the floor, and for their trip to the big city got a view of a hundred legs. Groups of passengers would move from one car to another looking for seats, only to return to the first.

Some grumbled. Others complained that there were no water cups. A little girl got stuck in the bathroom. Preschoolers on their first train ride promptly fell asleep in their mothers’ laps. One man was angered about having to stand in line in the first place.

“Hey, it’s free,” answered a weary Abel Lujan, a Metrolink worker monitoring the platform crowd. “If you don’t like it, you don’t have to ride it!”

But plenty of people have.

“The trains have been absolutely, horrendously overcrowded,” said Metrolink spokesman Peter Hidalgo. “The trains have been carrying capacity crowds, maximum loads, standing room only. It’s incredible.”

Indeed, nearly three times more people are taking advantage of the Riverside-to-Los Angeles freebies than those who tried out Metrolink’s other three lines when free commuter service was launched in October.

That month, during a promotional week of free rides from Moorpark in Ventura County to Los Angeles, for instance, 20,347 people rode the commuter trains; last week, the Riverside line attracted 54,820 passengers.

Since the free rides were first offered June 14, Metrolink has taken 115,000 passenger trips out of Riverside.

Some riders, such as Stephanie Hoover, took the afternoon train just for the novelty of it. She remained aboard with her two sons and her mother for the immediate return trip to Riverside. “If I like it, I’ll take it when we go in to do our shopping in the garment district,” she said.

Riverside County Fire Capt. Jim McBride, his wife and four children took the ride “because my kids want to see Los Angeles City Hall. They want to see how city government works. But mostly, we’re doing this just for the ride.”

Gail Roberts was checking out Metrolink for a possible Cub Scout outing and was so impressed that she will use Metrolink the next time she visits the Los Angeles Children’s Museum, she said.

And 20-year-old Elizabeth Casares said she was taking the train to L.A. to pay a surprise visit to her mother. “She doesn’t know I’m coming,” she said. “But hey, this is free.”

Larry Walker, chairman of the Metrolink Board of Directors, said he thinks ridership is high partly because the free rides were offered at the start of summer vacation, and families with children accepted the freebies for day trips into Los Angeles.

But a recent survey of commuting patterns showed that in Southern California, Riverside commuters headed for work drive the longest and spend the most time in their cars. This region, officials say, may be most in need of commuter trains into Los Angeles.

The question for Metrolink, of course, is how many riders will return once the $7.50 one-way charge begins today.

So far, Metrolink has been able to retain about 40% of its free riders as paying customers, Hidalgo said.

Hidalgo said the 5:20 a.m. and 6:20 a.m. Riverside-to-Los Angeles run has been filled mostly with hard-core commuters who are likely to stay with the train even when they have to pay.

The 7:20 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. trains have been so dominated by day-trippers that Metrolink provided 10 cars to accommodate everyone--twice the number that will probably be needed once fares are charged.

“The trips have been smooth and efficient--and a little uncomfortable,” Hidalgo said.

Walker said he expects Inland Empire commuters to adopt Metrolink. “We’re debunking that obnoxious myth that has been perpetrated for so many years, that people are in love with their automobile. We’re in process of proving that what Southern California people are wedded to is convenience.”

Richelle Raff, a 23-year-old artist, agreed. Carrying her portfolio, she hustled through Union Station singing the Metrolink’s praises.

“No gas, no indescribable stress, no parking problems, it’s good for the environment. . . . Would I do this again? Totally!”