More than 4.1 million rides were provided in September, the highest monthly ridership total since early 2020. Average weekday ridership was 133,995.
Ridership is up more than 15% compared to the same time last year, with more than 33.1 million rides taken through the end of September.
Ridership is growing on all modes, and especially in corridors with Bus Rapid Transit service.
In the METRO D Line corridor, an average of nearly 14,000 weekday rides were taken in September, twice the average ridership Route 5 had in September 2022. The D Line opened in December 2022, largely replacing Route 5.
Average weekday ridership on the METRO Orange Line is up about a third compared to last year; in September, there were more than 1,600 average weekday rides on the Orange Line.
Routes where fares have been waived as part of a pilot project are also seeing a notable bump in ridership. September's ridership on Route 32 was up 32% and ridership on Route 62 was up nearly 23% compared to the same month last year.
Ridership at the University of Minnesota has also seen a significant uptick. Students, faculty and staff who can use their university IDs to ride as often as they need to have taken 1.2 million rides through the end of September, a 61% increase compared to the same period last year.
Service expanded in June and August as operator staffing levels improved and will be expanded again on Saturday, Dec. 2. At that point, service levels will be at about 79% of what they were in 2019.
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