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Weekend Rail Ridership Surpasses Pre-pandemic Level
August saw L.A. Metro achieve its 21st consecutive month of year-over-year ridership growth with 27,066,446 boardings, reaching 84 percent of its August 2019 pre-COVID ridership level. Total weekday boardings were 21,187,496 reaching 82.3 percent of its pre-pandemic August 2019 level. Total August weekends saw 5,878,950 boardings, reaching 94.9 percent of pre-pandemic weekend ridership compared to August 2019.
Bus Ridership
Bus ridership grew again in August with 21,147,858 rides taken, marking an 8.2 percent year-over-year ridership increase compared to August 2023 ridership, which is 85.8 percent of its August 2019 level. Metro recorded 16,669,840 bus boardings on weekdays in August. Saturdays saw 2,678,410 boardings and Sundays had 1,799,608 boardings in August. Weekend bus ridership is now at is 93 percent of its pre-pandemic level.
Rail Ridership
In August, rail boardings were 5,918,588 reflecting a gain of 2.5 percent over August 2023 ridership and an 81.3 percent recovery of August 2019 rail ridership. Weekday rail boardings were 4,517,656 trips taken, reflecting 76.6 percent of weekday rail boardings in August 2019. August marked the second full month of year-over-year ridership comparison for the A and E lines. Ridership grew 13.2 percent year-over-year compared to August 2023. Individually, the A Line grew 15.6 percent when compared to ridership in August 2023 and the E Line grew 10.1 percent year-over-year. In August, the A Line surpassed the B Line as the busiest rail line in the system with 1,930,786 trips taken.
Leisure Ridership
In August, Metro provided special event support to nearly 50 transit-accessible events at large venues and entertainment parks in the L.A. region. Metro also provided special event parking at several of its stations for event goers to park and ride. In August, parking at Metro’s C line Crenshaw Station saw a 10 percent increase in weekend parking utilization as patrons parked, rode transit and used Metro’s shuttle to Sofi Stadium and Kia Forum.
As more leisure riders choose Metro for transportation to their events, they continue to be a driver of overall ridership growth, especially on the weekends. In August, weekend rail ridership in August surpassed its August 2019 pre-pandemic ridership by 1.27 percent and weekend bus ridership was at 93 percent its pre-pandemic level.
A few of the events Metro supported in August included: HARD Summer Music Festival at Hollywood Park, Nisei Week in Little Tokyo, Reggae Night, The Gipsy Kings and Sara Bareilles at the Hollywood Bowl, CicLAvia in Hollywood, and the Leimert Park Jazz Festival as well as end of summer concerts at Crypto, BMO, Expo Park, Kia Forum and SoFi Stadium, plus Dodgers, Angel City Football and LAFC Games.
Fare Programs
Metro continues to provide programs that make riding more affordable for everyone. The agency’s reduced-price transit pass programs, such as the student GoPass program, which offers free transit passes to K-12 and community college students, and its Low-Income Fare is Easy (LIFE) program, which provides free rides and reduced fares to low-income customers, are helping those who need it most.
In August, Metro’s GoPass Program had 937,551 boardings, an 18 percent year-over-year increase over August 2023. GoPass welcomed six new schools that joined the program in August – Valley Charter, St Mary’s Academy, Options for Youth – San Gabriel, Global Education Academy, Debbie Allen Dance Academy, and Ahava Academy.
LIFE Program boardings are up 5 percent year-over-year in August 2024 with 1,683,407 boardings. During August, the LIFE team held more than 85 in-person enrollment events to sign eligible people up for the reduced fare program.
Information on all Metro’s reduced fare programs, including discounts for seniors, persons with disabilities, and students, can be found at: metro.net/riding/fares/
Public Safety on Metro
Metro continues to increase its work to improve public safety with a three-point plan:
- Keep our employees and customers safe and ensure they feel safe through an increased visible presence of uniformed personnel, station improvements and improved bus safety measures.
- Ensure the system is being used only for its intended purpose of transit through fare gate improvements and removal of trespassers.
- Continue to partner with the County, the Cities and Regional Agencies to address societal issues such as homelessness, untreated mental illness, drug addiction.
As part of this strategy, Metro’s law enforcement partners have expanded their visible presence on the rail system, and more Transit Security Officers (TSOs) have been added to enforce Metro’s Customer Code of Conduct rules on both the bus and rail system. As part of the MTS surge, Metro Transit Security Bus Safety Teams (BSTs) performed end-of-line operations during late-night “Owl” service on some of the busiest bus lines. Metro Ambassadors are also out in force on Metro’s six rail lines and five of the busiest bus lines, to provide support to customers and keep a watchful eye out for problems.
About Metro
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) is building the most ambitious transportation infrastructure program in the United States and is working to greatly improve mobility through its Vision 2028 Plan. Metro is the lead transportation planning and funding agency for L.A. County and carries nearly a million boardings daily on four light rail and two subway lines and 119 bus lines utilizing more than 2,000 low-emission buses.
Stay informed by following Metro on The Source and El Pasajero at metro.net, facebook.com/losangelesmetro, X.com/metrolosangeles and instagram.com/metrolosangeles.
