When snow fell in December, Bloomington resident Laura Johnson hopped on a METRO D Line bus to reach her job as an administrative employee at Children's Hospital.
“I like that I can close my eyes, listen to a podcast, and not stress about driving,” she said during a recent commute home.
Riders like Johnson have driven initial ridership in the corridor served by the METRO D Line about 50% higher compared to the same time last year. Over the same one-year period, local bus ridership has grown by about 10%.
The D Line has seen about 7,500 average weekday rides since opening on December 3. Route 5, which continues to provide local service on a section of the D Line corridor, is seeing about 500 average weekday rides.
Ridership across all bus rapid transit corridors has recovered more quickly since the start of the pandemic, reflecting demand for all-day service that serves many needs.
“This is a real bright spot, and we’re excited to see more people discover the D Line in 2023,” said Katie Roth, director of arterial BRT.
Others happy to be using the D Line include Amit Kumar of Bloomington, who uses the D Line twice a week to go grocery shopping, and Aaron Nemoyer, who takes the D Line to his food service job in north Minneapolis and to go to the Mall of America on days off.
Minneapolis resident John Maycroft regularly rides the D Line to his job as a nursing assistant at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. He believe the D Line is saving him about 20 minutes of travel time a day, or 66 hours a year.
"Paying fares at the platform is huge...the doors open and everyone finds their seats quicker," he said.
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