October was another strong ridership month for Metro — our 23rd consecutive month of year-over-year ridership gains. Metro’s average weekday ridership was 1,025,262 — the highest it has been since the pandemic and the second straight month we crossed the one million mark.
Some highlights:
•The average weekday boardings in October was 86 percent of ridership in Oct. 2019 prior to Covid. Weekend ridership was 97.5 percent of our pre-pandemic boardings — a great sign that people are using our system to reach leisure activities.
The graphics below show boardings in 2019 compared to today.
•Bus ridership in October was up 7.5 percent over Oct. 2023 and rail ridership was up 8.6 percent over the previous October. It’s worth noting that rail ridership has been impacted by telecommuting more than bus — so it’s good to see our rail numbers continuing to rebound.
• Our Low Income Fare is Easy program in October 2024 had 2,042,922 boardings compared to 1,592,478 in Oct. 2023. To learn more about LIFE and sign up, visit www.metro.net/riding/fares/life/.
•Overall, we’re on pace for ridership in 2024 to be 8.2 percent higher than 2023 — a healthy gain.
Closely related to ridership gains is our ongoing work to improve public safety. We have a three-point plan:
•Keep our employees and customers safe and ensure they feel safe through an increase in the visible presence of uniformed personnel (including Transit Security Officers and the Metro Ambassadors), station improvements and improved bus safety measures.
•Ensure the system is being used only for its intended purpose of transit through fare gate improvements and the removal of trespassers.
•Continue to partner with the County, cities and regional agencies to address societal issues such as homelessness, untreated mental illness and drug addiction.
Thank you to everyone for riding and for your interest and support for public transit!
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