LA Metro records significant ridership surge in June 2023

Credit: LA Metro

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) has reported a significant increase in ridership in June 2023, with a 13.3% year-over-year rise, totalling nearly 24 million boardings. This marks the seventh consecutive month of year-over-year growth in ridership. The monthly bus and rail ridership has now reached 81% of its pre-pandemic level in 2019. Weekend ridership is even stronger at 91% of pre-pandemic levels on average, while weekdays are at 76%.

In June, LA Metro had 23,824,620 passenger boardings, averaging 866,670 rides each weekday, 646,743 on Saturdays and 542,727 on Sundays. Weekend ridership continues to outperform weekdays, with Saturdays reaching nearly 89% and Sundays nearly 94% of their June 2019 pre-pandemic levels.

Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Board Chair Karen Bass said: “With the opening of the Regional Connector last month, Metro has made it more accessible and affordable to travel by public transit across the region, and the benefits of this new connectivity are translating into increased ridership. I look forward to seeing ridership continue to grow as we work to expand the system and make it safer and move welcoming for all.”

Bus ridership leads overall, accounting for 78.4% of total ridership in June, with a total of 18,679,084 rides. Bus ridership in June 2023 was almost 84% of its level in June 2019 before the pandemic. LA Metro’s efforts to restore bus ridership includes hiring more than 1,000 bus operators since 2022 and installing more than 30 miles of bus priority lanes in partnership with the City of Los Angeles.

LA Metro achieves post-pandemic record with 10% ridership increase

The rail system has seen more than five million trips in June, a 14.2% increase over June 2022. Rail ridership growth was particularly notable on the B Line (Red)/D Line (Purple) subway, with average weekday ridership up 15.5% year-over-year.

LA Metro‘s CEO, Stephanie Wiggins, said: “Our riders can now easily visit downtown restaurants and events, and travel through three beautiful art filled stations which are quickly becoming destinations in themselves.”

To ensure safe and efficient transit service, LA Metro implemented a multi-layered public safety approach, a Drug-Free Metro campaign, engaged over 300 Metro Ambassadors to assist customers, hired over 1,000 new transit operators and fully restored bus services, making many lines faster and more frequent.