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.
Orange Line
| July 2012 | July 2011 | July 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Weekday Boardings | 26,087 | 22,817 | 21,902 |
| Average Saturday Boardings | 16,999 | 13,817 | 13,415 |
| Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings | 13,397 | 10,959 | 10,921 |
| Total Calendar Month Boardings | 696,205 | 591,179 | 581,622 |
Silver Line
| July 2012 | July 2011 | July 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Weekday Boardings | 11,206 | 9,480 | 7,488 |
| Average Saturday Boardings | 4,529 | 3,746 | 2,815 |
| Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings | 3,093 | 2,294 | 2,045 |
| Total Calendar Month Boardings | 272,000 | 222,094 | 181,548 |
Rail Ridership Estimates
Red/Purple Line
| July 2012 | July 2011 | July 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Weekday Boardings | 151,309 | 171,163 | 154,450 |
| Average Saturday Boardings | 86,941 | 92,171 | 100,390 |
| Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings | 78,265 | 74,186 | 80,310 |
| Total Calendar Month Boardings | 3,994,854 | 4,329,229 | 4,146,950 |
Blue Line
| July 2012 | July 2011 | July 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Weekday Boardings | 89,155 | 90,109 | 77,545 |
| Average Saturday Boardings | 61,350 | 60,213 | 54,280 |
| Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings | 53,559 | 54,155 | 48,850 |
| Total Calendar Month Boardings | 2,439,015 | 2,428,171 | 2,144,095 |
Blue Line estimates do not include Expo boardings.
Expo Line
| July 2012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Weekday Boardings | 18,181 | ||
| Average Saturday Boardings | 11,930 | ||
| Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings | 11,322 | ||
| Total Calendar Month Boardings | 497,449 |
Green Line
| July 2012 | July 2011 | July 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Weekday Boardings | 47,214 | 45,259 | 39,900 |
| Average Saturday Boardings | 26,568 | 25,927 | 21,545 |
| Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings | 17,052 | 19,706 | 18,350 |
| Total Calendar Month Boardings | 1,200,080 | 1,153,062 | 1,037,375 |
Gold Line
| July 2012 | July 2011 | July 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Weekday Boardings | 45,694 | 42,900 | 34,285 |
| Average Saturday Boardings | 22,729 | 26,029 | 25,371 |
| Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings | 18,363 | 21,452 | 22,970 |
| Total Calendar Month Boardings | 1,160,665 | 1,116,868 | 961,690 |
Rail Systemwide Ridership Estimates
| July 2012 | July 2011 | July 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Weekday Boardings | 351,553 | 349,432 | 306,180 |
| Average Saturday Boardings | 209,518 | 204,340 | 201,586 |
| Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings | 178,562 | 169,499 | 170,480 |
| Total Calendar Month Boardings | 9,292,064 | 9,027,329 | 8,290,110 |
Includes Expo Line ridership.
Systemwide Ridership Estimates
| July 2012 | July 2011 | July 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Weekday Boardings | 1,426,878 | 1,443,009 | 1,406,440 |
| Average Saturday Boardings | 952,881> | 959,607 | 948,961 |
| Average Sunday and Holiday Boardings | 737,488 | 723,887 | 725,902 |
| Total Calendar Month Boardings | 38,200,900 | 38,001,530 | 37,909,543 |
Categories: Policy & Funding
“As a result, rail ridership data is collected by several means and it’s done over several months and then crunched to produce a ridership estimate.”
Basically another total waste of taxes wasted on labor costs used to calculate this when it would be much simpler to do this automatically if we had installed fare gates in the first place, like oh, pretty much how everyone else does it all over the world?
Brilliant way to waste taxes Metro.
I wonder if there are statistics available that show average boardings for active service miles. Since rail mileage is increasing while bus mileage is decreasing, this statistic might give a better picture of what is changing.
I haven’t seen such a breakdown from Metro but generally speaking rail ridership has increased as the miles of rail have increased. I think on the bus side it’s more complex — it’s not just the miles of bus service, but where the buses go (and don’t go) and the times that they go there. There are, as you know, many Metro bus lines that carry a lot of people. At the same time, out in suburbia there are lines that are rarely, if ever, crowded.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
Note how for buses they don’t use the word “estimates” but for rails the use “estimates.”
Metro has no real clue what the ridership figures are. All of it is just conjecture.
I question Metro’s methodology of estimating rail ridership. “Tabulated over the prior several months then crunched” doesn’t sound like a sturdy way to estimate any one month’s boardings.
Steve, can you give us some background on the methodology?
Hi Mark;
I don’t have any specific details. Bus ridership is pretty easy to tabulate — it’s based on the farebox. Over the years, that has been a trickier issue on the rail side owing to the lack of gates at stations until relatively recently (and still not all rail stations have gates). As a result, rail ridership data is collected by several means and it’s done over several months and then crunched to produce a ridership estimate. On the plus side, Metro has been consistent with their methodology. On the minus side, the rail ridership is really more of an estimate of average ridership over several months. I’ve reported this in the past as I don’t want to sell the numbers as something that they’re not (i.e. an exclusive count of boardings in a single month). Metro staff have confidence in the numbers and I don’t have any reason to believe that they’re way off base — but I do think it’s important to note from time to time that they’re estimates and not hard numbers.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
The decline in ridership for Red/Purple line on weekdays from 2011 to 2012 works out to an average of 63 people per day… spread over a 20-hour service period. It wouldn’t be noticeable.
Can anyone explain the drop off in the Red / Purple lines? sure doesnt seem less crowded
It appears that if you subtract the Orange, Silver and Contracted bus lines – that bus ridership is continuing it’s decline while rail carries a staggering – and increasing – number of people for the percentage of the mileage it covers.
What’s with the dip in Red Line ridership (year over year)?