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LA Metro Ridership Is On Route To Hit Pre-Pandemic Levels
People wait to ride the new Metro regional connector in Little Tokyo on Friday, June 16, 2023.
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Samanta Helou Hernandez
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LAist
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LA Metro’s ridership is making a comeback. Last month, more than 930,000 daily passengers boarded its buses and rail services everyday — an increase of 10% from the previous year and closing in on pre-pandemic levels.
Nearing a million riders a day
“We're right now at about 91% of the pre-pandemic average compared to September 2019, and about 77% for our average weekday ridership, so we're closely creeping up to where we were before at over a million riders a day. We're going to continue to do more,” said Patrick Chandler, communications manager for Metro.
Chandler also says there has been a 53% drop in crime since April. He attributed the decrease to a series of measures Metro has put in, including adding both unarmed and armed officers at stations, transit ambassadors to direct passengers and report crime, and homeless outreach providing resources for unhoused individuals frequenting rails and stations.
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Those safety initiatives, in addition to students returning to school, and the launch of the new regional connector in Downtown, all contributed to the rise in ridership, he says.
Free passes for students
Metro is in its second year offering free passes to students and has been offering reduced fares to low-income riders since 2018. September is the third month since the regional connector opened in downtown, connecting rail lines including E, A and L.
The department has built about 51 miles of bus lane, Chandler said, but more are in the works with hopes to bring efficiency throughout the city’s public transportation offerings.
“[We’re] offering these opportunities for speedier, faster, more reliable bus service that might also encourage riders to get on,” he said.
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