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Rider's Almanac Blog

METRO Blue Line METRO Green Line Ridership

Light-rail ridership continues to climb

| Thursday, November 12, 2015 9:21:00 AM

Customers exit a light-rail train at Nicollet Mall Station in downtown Minneapolis.Light-rail ridership continued to climb in October, continuing a historic year for the METRO Green and Blue lines. 

Nearly 1.3 million Green Line rides were recorded last month, beating the light-rail line's previous monthly high of 1.25 million set in September. More than 10.2 million rides have been taken on the Green Line through the end of October.  

Average weekday ridership on the Green Line has also exceeded 40,000 for the last 10 weeks. The average weekday projection for 2030 was 41,000 rides.

With another 961,000 rides in October, total Blue Line ridership has reached almost 9 million and is on pace to set a new annual ridership record. The previous record of 10.5 million rides was set in 2012.

October's ridership is just the latest in a string of milestones for the light-rail lines. Previously:

    > On Sept. 3, single-day ridership on the Green and Blue lines topped 100,000 for the first time ever.

    > More than 1 million rides were taken on both the  Blue and Green lines in July. 

    > In April, East Bank Station became the first Green Line stop to reach 1 million boardings

    > A decade after opening, the Blue Line surpassed 100 million total rides in January. 

Combined, more than 7.75 million total rides, including 5.5 million bus rides, were taken last month. Nearly 72.3 million rides have been taken through the end up October, up about 2 percent compared to last year.