Tag Archives: Metro ridership

Metro overall ridership in January rises slightly over previous January

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The January ridership numbers for Metro are below.

The basic breakdown: overall Metro ridership is slightly up compared to Jan. 2012 (1,445,601 avg. weekday boardings compared to 1,408,380), rail ridership is significantly up from Jan. 2012 (358,967 avg. weekday boardings compared to 335,108 boardings last year) and bus ridership is slightly down (1,086,63 average weekday boardings compared to 1,101,282).

Expo Line ridership continues to climb with 24,175 weekday boardings in January, up from 23,193 boardings in December. Here are graphics showing ridership trends on Orange Line, Silver Line and all Metro Rail lines.

As for outside factors on ridership, New Year’s Day was on a Tuesday this year compared to a Sunday in 2012 — perhaps not as many people worked the first week of January this year. Weather-wise, this January was about the same as last year rain-wise — with not much precipitation.

Bus Ridership Estimates

Bus – Directly Operated

Jan. 2013 Jan. 2012 Jan. 2011
Average Weekday Boardings 1,045,108 1,058,236 1,045,828
Average Saturday Boardings 694,822 683,259 708,938
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 504,733 511,924 456,199
Total Calendar Month Boardings 28,295,329 28,027,536 27,535,334

Directly operated bus ridership includes Orange and Silver Line ridership.

Bus – Contract

Jan. 2013 Jan. 2012 Jan. 2011
Average Weekday Boardings 41,526 43,046 41,074
Average Saturday Boardings 24,194 22,752 23,810
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 16,105 16,935 14,681
Total Calendar Month Boardings 1,090,871 1,096,584 1,045,886

Bus – Systemwide

Jan. 2013 Jan. 2012 Jan. 2011
Average Weekday Boardings 1,086,634 1,101,282 1,086,902
Average Saturday Boardings 719,016 706,011 732,748
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 520,838 528,859 470,880
Total Calendar Month Boardings 29,386,200 29,124,120 28,581,220

Directly operated bus ridership includes Orange and Silver Line ridership.

Orange Line

Jan. 2013 Jan. 2012 Jan. 2011
Average Weekday Boardings 26,162 23,050 21,116
Average Saturday Boardings 16,488 13,999 13,082
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 12,357 10,777 9,271
Total Calendar Month Boardings 703,301 604,708 551,390

Silver Line

Jan. 2013 Jan. 2012 Jan. 2011
Average Weekday Boardings 12,422 10,601 8,049
Average Saturday Boardings 4,847 3,815 2,800
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 3,159 2,512 1,701
Total Calendar Month Boardings 308,467 252,953 190,435

Rail Ridership Estimates

Red/Purple Line

Jan. 2013 Jan. 2012 Jan. 2011
Average Weekday Boardings 158,328 144,854 143,634
Average Saturday Boardings 89,906 84,848 91,154
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 81,175 74,037 68,127
Total Calendar Month Boardings 4,248,725 3,825,552 3,789,697

Blue Line

Jan. 2013 Jan. 2012 Jan. 2011
Average Weekday Boardings 88,846 78,515 79,709
Average Saturday Boardings 55,857 58,344 49,464
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 55,515 50,849 40,998
Total Calendar Month Boardings 2,455,624 2,187,283 2,117,728

Blue Line estimates do not include Expo boardings.

Expo Line

Jan. 2013
Average Weekday Boardings 24,175
Average Saturday Boardings 17,534
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 14,501
Total Calendar Month Boardings 674,496    

Green Line

Jan. 2013 Jan. 2012 Jan. 2011
Average Weekday Boardings 45,141 42,600 40,891
Average Saturday Boardings 26,943 21,900 24,105
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 19,995 18,832 17,405
Total Calendar Month Boardings 1,200,855 1,095,196 1,059,557

Gold Line

Jan. 2013 Jan. 2012 Jan. 2011
Average Weekday Boardings 42,476 41,129 33,947
Average Saturday Boardings 22,286 25,893 22,705
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 15,077 23,426 22,633
Total Calendar Month Boardings 1,099,009 1,107,839 939,501

Rail Systemwide Ridership Estimates

Jan. 2013 Jan. 2012 Jan. 2011
Average Weekday Boardings 358,967 307,098 298,180
Average Saturday Boardings 212,526 190,986 187,428
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 186,264 167,143 149,163
Total Calendar Month Boardings 9,678,709 8,215,869 7,906,482

Includes Expo Line ridership.

Systemwide Ridership Estimates

Jan. 2013 Jan. 2012 Jan. 2011
Average Weekday Boardings 1,445,601 1,408,380 1,385,083
Average Saturday Boardings 931,543 896,997 920,177
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 707,101 696,002 620,044
Total Calendar Month Boardings 39,064,909 37,339,989 36,487,702

Gender and Metro ridership: more women ride than men, with some exceptions

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The above chart is based on Metro’s 2012 Customer Satisfaction Survey and focuses on the issue of ridership by gender. The gist of it: more women than men overall ride Metro although there are notable exceptions: higher-income riders tend to be male, as are riders with a car available to them.

Recently, Transportation Nation reported the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey which revealed a gender gap in transit ridership: Although women make up 47 percent of the workforce, 50.5 percent of transit riders are women.

“Higher income riders tend to be choice riders who chose to ride Metro even though they have access to a car” said Jeff Boberg, of Metro’s Research Department.  “We have also found out, through focus groups and other surveys, that women tend to factor personal security higher than men.  We have also found that people who ride on Metro buses and trains feel safer on the transit system than those who don’t.  This could at least partially explain the gender gap at higher incomes.”

A greater proportion of Metro riders are in the lower income brackets, which accounts for the overall female percentage of 52%, despite much lower percentages in the higher income ranges.

What do you think? What are the reasons that more choice riders tend to be men? Comment please!

Ridership on Metro makes gains in October; new records on four lines

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Below are the October ridership statistics for Metro. Numbers were up across the board when compared to the previous two Octobers. Here are the comparisons month-to-month numbers — it looks like record months for the Orange Line, Silver Line, Blue Line and the newly-opened Expo Line.

Bus – Directly Operated

Oct. 2012 Oct. 2011 Oct. 2010
Average Weekday Boardings 1,141,759 1,119,721 1,094,143
Average Saturday Boardings 737,193 741,178 726,981
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 551,674 543,027 520,636
Total Calendar Month Boardings 31,415,925 29,935,166 29,215,088

Directly operated bus ridership includes Orange and Silver Line ridership.

Bus – Contract

  Oct. 2012 Oct. 2011 Oct. 2010
Average Weekday Boardings 48,503 45,588 45,590
Average Saturday Boardings 26,218 25,337 25,125
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 19,107 18,366 17,501
Total Calendar Month Boardings 1,296,868 1,175,868 1,170,529

Bus – Systemwide

  Oct. 2012 Oct. 2011 Oct. 2010
Average Weekday Boardings 1,190,262 1,165,309 1,139,733
Average Saturday Boardings 763,411 766,515 752,106
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 570,781 561,393 538,137
Total Calendar Month Boardings 32,712,793 31,111,034 30,385,617

Directly operated bus ridership includes Orange and Silver Line ridership.

  Orange Line

  Oct. 2012 Oct. 2011 Oct. 2010
Average Weekday Boardings 32,069 26,614 23,958
Average Saturday Boardings 19,396 15,376 13,520
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 14,140 11,564 10,311
Total Calendar Month Boardings 871,731 693,594 622,273

  Silver Line

  Oct. 2012 Oct. 2011 Oct. 2010
Average Weekday Boardings 13,765 11,234 8,118
Average Saturday Boardings 5,235 4,095 2,892
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 3,782 2,433 2,044
Total Calendar Month Boardings 352,663 268,554 195,158

Rail Ridership Estimates

  Red/Purple Line

  Oct. 2012 Oct. 2011 Oct. 2010
Average Weekday Boardings 157,605 145,737 143,174
Average Saturday Boardings 97,768 86,230 93,780
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 84,308 74,723 76,831
Total Calendar Month Boardings 4,353,213 3,865,234 3,859,706

  Blue Line

  Oct. 2012 Oct. 2011 Oct. 2010
Average Weekday Boardings 92,953 77,738 77,528
Average Saturday Boardings 63,619 56,637 49,469
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 62,213 45,345 43,710
Total Calendar Month Boardings 2,641,237 2,142,398 2,093,990

Blue Line estimates do not include Expo boardings.

  Expo Line

Oct. 2012    
Average Weekday Boardings 21,382
Average Saturday Boardings 13,279
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 13,146
Total Calendar Month Boardings 597,496    

  Green Line

Oct. 2012 Oct. 2011 Oct. 2010
Average Weekday Boardings 46,544 42,810 40,385
Average Saturday Boardings 28,022 22,256 24,079
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 17,964 17,523 17,254
Total Calendar Month Boardings 1,254,462 1,097,915 1,054,743

  Gold Line

  Oct. 2012 Oct. 2011 Oct. 2010
Average Weekday Boardings 42,417 36,784 34,440
Average Saturday Boardings 23,743 23,688 21,960
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 14,859 21,833 18,495
Total Calendar Month Boardings 1,129,997 1,000,060 925,502

Rail Systemwide Ridership Estimates

  Oct. 2012 Oct. 2011 Oct. 2010
Average Weekday Boardings 360,901 303,068 295,526
Average Saturday Boardings 226,432 188,810 189,287
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 192,490 159,424 156,290
Total Calendar Month Boardings 9,976,406 8,105,607 7,933,941

Includes Expo Line ridership.

 

Systemwide Ridership Estimates

  Oct. 2012 Oct. 2011 Oct. 2010
Average Weekday Boardings 1,551,163 1,468,378 1,435,260
Average Saturday Boardings 989,843 955,325 941,393
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 763,271 720,816 694,427
Total Calendar Month Boardings 42,689,199 39,216,641 38,319,558

July ridership numbers — Expo Line continues to make gains

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Looks like a trend we’ve seen in recent months continues: Metro Rail ridership continues to increase while systemwide bus ridership is flat. The Expo Line continues to increase with more than 18,000 average weekday boardings.

That’s not a huge surprise with July being the first month that the full first phase was open between downtown L.A. and Culver City.

Below are the July numbers, which on the rail side are tabulated over the prior several months and then crunched to come up with the monthly numbers:

 Ridership Statistics

 Bus – Directly Operated

July 2012 July 2011 July 2010
Average Weekday Boardings 1,032,747 1,052,088 1,058,021
Average Saturday Boardings 718,137 731,024 722,957
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 539,825 536,218 536,789
Total Calendar Month Boardings 27,799,185 27,914,188 28,517,171

 

Directly operated bus ridership includes Orange and Silver Line ridership.

 

Bus – Contract

 

July 2012 July 2011 July 2010
Average Weekday Boardings 42,578 41,489 42,239
Average Saturday Boardings 25,227 24,243 24,418
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 19,101 18,170 18,633
Total Calendar Month Boardings 1,109,651 1,060,013 1,102,262

 

Bus – Systemwide

 

July 2012 July 2011 July 2010
Average Weekday Boardings 1,075,325 1,093,577 1,100,260
Average Saturday Boardings 743,364 755,267 747,375
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 558,926 554,388 555,422
Total Calendar Month Boardings 28,908,836 28,974,201 29,619,433

 

Directly operated bus ridership includes Orange and Silver Line ridership.

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National transit ridership up 5 percent in first quarter of 2012

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Below is the news release from the American Public Transportation Assn. — the Los Angeles area saw big gains in light rail and commuter rail ridership. That mirrors the gains in Metro’s rail ridership in April, although overall Metro ridership in April 2012 is down from April 2011 and April 2010 (complete ridership numbers here).

The APTA news release:

Public transportation ridership surged in the first quarter of 2012, as Americans took nearly 2.7 billion trips, an increase of 5.0% over the first quarter of last year, according to a report released today by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). This was the fifth consecutive quarter of U.S. public transit ridership increase, as 125.7 million more trips were taken than the first quarter of 2011.

All public transit modes saw increases and several saw significantly high increases.  Light rail use increased by 6.7 percent and heavy rail use increased by 5.5 percent. Some public transit systems throughout all the areas of the United States reported record ridership for the first quarter. (i.e. Ann Arbor, MI; Boston, MA; Charlotte, NC; Fort Myers, FL; Indianapolis, IN; Ithaca, NY;  New York, NY; Oakland, CA; Olympia, WA; San Diego, CA; and Tampa, FL).

 

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Metro ridership update: systemwide up over a year ago and new record month for Gold Line but bus numbers remain flat

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Update, 1:45 p.m. — three Metro Rail lines had record numbers (Gold, Blue and Red/Purple) and more info about how rail ridership is calculated have been added to the below post. 

 

Metro has released its ridership statistics for July. Bottom line: systemwide ridership is up  over a year ago, bus ridership is slightly less than it was in July 2010 and rail ridership is up 8.9 percent, with increases on all four lines.

And for the first time since it opened in 2003, the Gold Line averaged over 40,000 average weekday riders (42,900 to be exact) this past July. That’s about double the average weekday ridership the Gold Line had in July 2009, before the Eastside Gold Line opened and added to the line’s ridership. In addition, over the past couple of months, the Gold Line has been running more frequent and longer trains during the morning and afternoon rush hours. The Red/Purple Line subway and Blue Line also set monthly records and the Green Line had its second-best month.

It’s important to note, however, that buses have automatic counters that tally ridership. Metro Rail does not have those counters and monthly ridership is calculated based on rolling averages of counts done in the past month and and over six months prior. So the July numbers likely reflect earlier trends during the year — such as the spike in gas prices this spring.

On the bus side, it’s interesting that ridership is about the same as a year ago, despite two rounds of service changes in the past 12 months, including some service cuts. As we’ve said in the past, high local unemployment could also be a factor: Los Angeles County’s unemployment rate was 12 percent in June and the number of people without jobs had increased from the previous month. The U.S. unemployment rate for June was 9.2 percent.

Here’s a look at rail, bus and systemwide ridership over the past two years:

Rail Systemwide Ridership Estimates

  July 2011 July 2010 July 2009
Average Weekday Boardings 349,432 306,180 305,988
Average Saturday Boardings 204,340 201,586 191,879
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 169,499 170,480 163,424
Total Calendar Month Boardings 9,027,329 8,290,110 8,430,487

Bus – Systemwide

  July 2011 July 2010 July 2009
Average Weekday Boardings 1,093,577 1,100,260 1,136,753
Average Saturday Boardings 755,267 747,375 761,906
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 554,388 555,422 560,696
Total Calendar Month Boardings 28,974,201 29,619,433 31,234,512

Systemwide Ridership Estimates

  July 2011 July 2010 July 2009
Average Weekday Boardings 1,443,009 1,406,440 1,442,741
Average Saturday Boardings 959,607 948,961 953,785
Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings 723,887 725,902 724,120
Total Calendar Month Boardings 38,001,530 37,909,543 39,664,999

 

Charts showing ridership on the Orange Line, Red Line, Blue Line, Green Line and Gold Line are posted after the jump.

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How did 405 closure impact Metro ridership this weekend?

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The answer, according to Metro officials, is that it was a mixed bag — due, in part, to reduced travel in the region. The evidence suggests that people didn’t just stop driving, they stopped going anywhere for good chunks of the weekend.

Metro offered free service on the Orange Line busway, the Red and Purple Line subway and 26 other bus lines. The agency also increased service on a number of bus lines to help people travel between the San Fernando Valley and the Westside.

Metro officials believe ridership was up about 15 to 20 percent on the Orange Line busway, the Red Line subway and the Green Line. On the other hand, bus ridership looks like it was up slightly on some lines and down slightly on others.

One reason that it’s hard to calculate ridership for this weekend is that there was a lot of free service, meaning the agency don’t have fare media data they normally would have to help count passengers on buses and trains.

Metro officials also observed that it appeared more people than usual in the Valley were traveling with luggage, suggesting that they were using Metro Rail to travel to LAX, given that the 405 was closed. The Galaxy-Real Madrid soccer match at the Coliseum on Saturday also looked to draw extra riders on the Red Line and the 754 Vermont bus.