Ridership update for Nov. 2024 — we’ve now had 24 straight months of growth

We had 25.8 million boardings on our bus and rail system in November — the 24th straight month of growth year-over-year.

Our combined bus and rail ridership reached nearly 88 percent of its 2019 pre-pandemic ridership level. The chart below shows the progress of our ridership recovery since 2020 when safer-at-home orders impacted ridership and everyday life.

It’s worth noting that we exceeded one million average weekday boardings in September and October. We usually see a dip in boardings from November through January due to the holidays.

Weekend and leisure riders have continued to drive ridership growth — and our Sunday ridership last month actually surpassed Nov. 2019.

We also had about 80,000 additional rides on our system for the Dodgers World Series Parade on Friday, Nov. 1.  

Overall, our boardings in 2024 through November are eight percent ahead of 2023. After this month’s ridership is factored in, we’re poised to surpass 300 million boardings in 2024.

LIFE Ridership

Connecting folks to opportunity and helping them get around is a huge part of our mission. Our Metro’s Low-Income Fare is Easy (LIFE) program — which provides free rides and reduced fares to low-income customers — had 1,761,586 boardings in November — a 16 percent increase from Nov. ’23.

Information on Metro’s reduced fare programs — including discounts for low-income persons and families, seniors, persons with disabilities and students — can be found at: metro.net/riding/fares/. 

Public Safety on Metro 

Metro continues its ongoing work to improve public safety with a three-point plan: 

• Keep our employees and customers safe and ensure they feel safe through an increased visible presence of uniformed personnel, 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 removal of trespassers; and  
• Continue to partner with the County, the Cities and Regional Agencies to address societal issues such as homelessness, untreated mental illness and drug addiction. 

Thank you for riding and your continued interest and support for public transit in our region. Friendly reminder: we’re again offering free rides on our system on Christmas Eve (from 4 a.m. Dec. 24 thru 3 a.m. Dec. 25) and New Year’s Eve (from 4 a.m. Dec. 31 thru 3 a.m. Jan 1). Spread the word and we hope to see you on board soon!