Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 23, 2008
METRO TRANSIT LOGS
HIGHEST
FIRST-QUARTER RIDERSHIP
IN 24 YEARS
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – (April 23) – The last time more people rode Metro Transit in the first three months of the year Apple introduced the Mac, a stamp cost 20 cents and the summer Olympics were in L.A.
That was 1984.
This year customers boarded Metro Transit buses and trains 19.2 million times from January through March. That’s 7.2 percent, or 1.3 million rides, more than the same period last year.
Metro Transit recorded ridership increases across all types of its service, paced by a 16.4 percent increase on the Hiawatha light-rail line. Three-month ridership was 2.1
million, the first time first-quarter ridership topped 2 million in the four-year history of light-rail service.
Ridership on urban local services was up 8.3 percent, and express bus ridership was up 4.3 percent. Suburban local ridership saw a 6 percent increase and rides on Maple Grove contracted routes jumped 49 percent.
The first-quarter figures continue a very positive trend, said General Manager Brian Lamb. Ridership last year was the highest in a quarter century, and ridership over the past two years is up 10.4 percent.
“People are looking for alternatives to driving alone as they cope with higher gas prices, growing congestion and the stress of driving,” Lamb said. “With about 80 percent of riders heading to work and school, Metro Transit is proving its value not only as a congestion reliever but also as a service that helps drive the economic engine of the region.”
Metro Transit saw double-digit increases in its employer- and student-based programs. Workers at 175 companies use discounted annual Metropasses issued through their employers. Metropass holders took 2.2 million rides in the first quarter, up 15 percent over last year. Students at the University of Minnesota holding U-Passes logged 1.4 million rides, also an increase of 15 percent over the first three months of 2007.
“We are well on our way toward exceeding our goal of 78 million rides this year,” he said.
To make it easier to take the bus or train, Metro Transit implemented two new trip planning features during the first quarter.
• Enhanced its self-service, on-line trip planner by adding mapping capability. The trip maps are interactive and intuitive, so customers can zoom in and out and more easily see the locations of the bus and train stops that they will use. The trip planner also provides maps with complete walking directions to and from bus and train stops.
• Began a customer test of NexTrip, a web tool that provides real-time bus departure information using global positioning technology.
“We continue to look for the best uses of technology to improve customer service and advance our commitment to the environment through our Go Greener Initiative,” Lamb said.
Metro Transit is a service of the Metropolitan Council.
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(Editors: For information call Bob Gibbons, director of customer services, 612-349-7509 or via e-mail at robert.gibbons@metc.state.mn.us)
