MID-YEAR 2013 RIDERSHIP: 40
MILLION
Northstar up 15 percent
MINNEAPOLIS
– (July 17) – Through the first half of 2013, customers have boarded Metro
Transit buses and trains 39.9 million times – 312,000 more rides than the same
period last year (a 0.8 percent increase).
“Transit
ridership has continued to grow through the second quarter as more commuters
choose to avoid high gas prices and traffic congestion,” said Metro Transit
General Manager Brian Lamb.
Comparing bus ridership with the same period last year, urban local service is up 279,000 rides (one percent), express service is up 113,000 rides (2.6 percent) and suburban local service has increased by 25,000 rides (3.3 percent).
Year-to-date, Northstar commuter rail ridership is up more than 50,000 or 15.1 percent over 2012 – fueled by a fare adjustment that was made permanent on May 1 and the opening of Ramsey Station in November of 2012. In June, customers boarded Northstar trains an average of 3,058 times per weekday – the first time the 3,000 mark has been surpassed in the line’s history.
Ridership on the METRO Blue Line is down 3.1 percent (156,000 rides) compared with the first half of last year. In 2012, ridership on the Blue (Hiawatha) Line was 10.5 million – the highest in the line’s nine years of operation. Despite fewer rides to special events, average weekday ridership on the region’s first light-rail line continues to trend nearly 30 percent ahead of projections for the year 2020.
 * -includes
401,515 rides on Metro Transit service contracted by Maple
Grove Transit.
Metro Transit is a service of the Metropolitan Council. Customers boarded Metro Transit buses and trains 81 million times in 2012.
Contact: John Siqveland, john.siqveland@metrotransit.org or 612-349-7089.
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