Late-Night Subway Service Attracted 1,000 Riders a Night

Metro is estimating that 1,000 people a night took advantage of Metro's late-night subway service pilot program last Fall and Winter. For six weekends, Metro extended service on the Red Line until 3 a.m. at the behest of the business community who helped pay for the majority of the program. "Because Metro does not have turnstiles to track exact ridership, the numbers presented came from a survey conducted on Friday, December 12, and Saturday, December 13," observed Eric Richardson at blogdowntown. "Another survey conducted the next weekend offered roughly the same numbers." The report also hints that homeless accounted for up to 25% of the ridership. Again, of course, ridership counts were not an exact science here.