Results tagged “ridership”

The gas price spike may be over, but it would seem that some are sticking to public transit. The latest numbers coming from Metro show that the Orange Line continues to grow in popularity. September saw the highest ridership ever for the Orange Line in the Valley at 28,000. Which has us asking, when will that feared and applauded (depending on who you are) proposal to turn the dedicated busway into a light rail happen?

As the gas prices fell last month, so did ridership on public transit. Metro documents show that people are riding less on a daily basis, but numbers are still a lot higher than usual when compared to 12 months ago or even earlier this year.

Yesterday, all the buzz was about the Orange Line's record ridership last month. Today, Metro released the June 2008 numbers for all their rail lines, which had an increase in daily ridership, up 12.8 percent. Around 309,000 people rode the rails, most of them, 153,928, on the subway system. Steve Hymon at the LA Times broke down the numbers nicely:

What was originally expected for ridership on the Valley's "shortcut" busway when it started is now a weekend number as weekday average ridership last month soared to 26,596 daily bus trips, a 63% increase since the first days of the line. Now officials are looking to add more buses and are considering adding express lines. There's one problem, though: the high ridership has made it uncomfortable for at least one longtime rider. "I now take the 750 Metro Rapid along Ventura Blvd. to Woodland Hills instead of the Orange Line," he explained. "It's only 5-minutes slower and I don't have to stand for the hour."