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Rider's Almanac Blog

C Line

Five months after opening, METRO C Line surpasses 1M rides

Posted by Drew Kerr | Thursday, November 21, 2019 12:33:00 PM

The METRO C Line surpassed the 1 million ride mark this week.

The milestone came five months after the Bus Rapid Transit line opened, significantly replacing and improving Route 19. The C Line provides fast, frequent service between the Brooklyn Center Transit Center and downtown Minneapolis, operating largely along Penn Avenue.

Average weekday ridership in the C Line corridor is about 30% higher than typical Route 19 ridership before construction on the C Line and other Penn Avenue improvements began. Combined, the C Line and Route 19 had nearly 8,300 average weekday rides in October.

With expanded weekend service, ridership is up about 25% on Saturdays and 40% on Sundays.

Similar ridership increases have been seen on the corridor served by the METRO A Line, which opened in 2016.

The success of Metro Transit's BRT lines is remarkable in part because it comes amid a general decline in bus ridership. Through the end of October, bus ridership is down nearly 6%.

Across all modes, nearly 66 million rides have been provided through the end of October, down about 3% compared to the same time last year.

Ridership on the Blue Line and Northstar is down slightly, but ridership on the Green Line is up more than 4%.

Learn more about plans to expand the Bus Rapid Transit network

Watch: Hey! Where Does This Bus Go, C Line edition