LA Metro was down 1.5M rides this June compared to last. Here are some possible reasons why

There were around 6% fewer Los Angeles Metro bus and train riders in June compared to the same time last year, a drop that coincides with a more visible uptick in federal immigration enforcement, anti-ICE protests and a weeklong curfew in downtown L.A.

The systemwide analysis

June 2025 saw the fewest number of riders compared to any month since last February, according to an LAist analysis of Metro ridership data. The analysis looked at how many bus and train rides were taken each month since January 2024.

Metro said reduction in riders could also to some extent be attributed to the 70-day closure of the D Line, which is scheduled to end later this month.

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Compared to May, before widespread immigration enforcement began, ridership in June fell by more than 13%, or 3.7 million trips.

Reductions between May and June of any year could be attributed to seasonal changes, modifications to people’s daily routines and the end of the school year, according to Metro.

Indeed, there was a decrease in ridership between May and June of last year, as well. That dip in ridership, around 7%, was smaller than the one observed this year.

Popular bus routes saw decline

LAist’s analysis found that the same 11 bus routes consistently had the highest ridership each month between January 2024 and June 2025. Nearly all of those bus routes saw a decline in ridership between June 2024 and June 2025.

Bus routes 16, 18, 51 and 70 had around 10% fewer riders in June 2025 compared to the same time last year. Those buses were re-routed during anti-ICE protests in downtown L.A. last month, among other bus routes.

Among Metro’s trains, the C Line saw the largest relative drop in ridership between June 2024 and June 2025. There were 26% fewer trips, or a difference of nearly 150,000 riders, between the two months.

The C line runs from Norwalk to the newly opened LAX Metro Transit Center.

The K Line

The K Line bucked the trend with ridership more than doubling over the year.

“This is likely due to the opening of the LAX Metro Transit Center, as it provides access to the airport, but also opened up access for K Line riders to more parts of the Metro system,” a Metro spokesperson said in an email.

The LAX Metro Transit Center opened in early June.

The second largest relative hike in ridership on the K Line since January of last year occurred between May and June 2025, when there was a 35% increase in riders.

Immigration enforcement and Metro

There haven’t been any confirmed reports of immigration officers boarding Metro buses and trains.

Immigration officers in June asked patrons about their immigration status at the El Monte train station. They were reportedly present for 15 minutes, and no one was detained.

The official Metro Reddit account confirmed “reports of ICE officers” at the Metro Harbor Gateway Station on July 1.

“Metro can confirm that their presence was the result of a spillover from ICE enforcement activity at a nearby Home Depot,” according to a comment the account made on a post.

The Metro Board directed the agency to update protocols for station closures amid protests after former chair and L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn said people were caught “stranded.”

In Orange County, there’s been at least one report of an ICE agent boarding a bus. The incident occurred on July 10 in Santa Ana, and no one was arrested, according to local news sources.

Limitations of looking at ridership by route

Ridership numbers don’t tell the whole story. The drops in ridership could have occurred at one stop or across all the stops along a given bus or rail route. To get a more comprehensive look at ridership patterns, LAist requested from Metro data showing boardings by stop, which the countywide transportation agency does not publish online.