D.C. Metro rail ridership drops due to snowfall

[IMAGE]DCMetro-snowy-rail-full.jpg[/IMAGE]The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's (WMATA) Metrorail ridership so far this week has seen ridership levels slow to a trickle with heavy snowfall and blizzard conditions. Only 36,097 trips were taken yesterday, Wednesday, Feb. 10, when white-out blizzard conditions limited the rail system to underground service only. By comparison, there were 670,643 trips taken the previous Wednesday (Feb. 3).

Snow began on Friday, Feb. 5, and began to impact ridership immediately. The numbers of trips taken during the weekend were extremely low, as were Monday’s and Tuesday’s trip count, according to WMATA officials. Ridership on Saturday, Feb. 6 (63,111) was the lowest number of trips taken in the rail system since Christmas 2006 when 56,326 trips were recorded. That record was eclipsed yesterday (Feb. 10) when only 36,097 trips were taken.

[IMAGE]D-C-clearing-snow-thumb.jpg[/IMAGE]

Today’s underground-only limited service is also expected to see a drop-off in ridership compared with the previous Thursday, but well above yesterday’s level.

February Metrorail ridership

Date                            Metrorail Trips Taken        Service Level 
Monday, Feb. 1            701,138                               Regular service
Tuesday, Feb. 2          728,047                               Regular service
Wednesday, Feb. 3    670,643                               Regular service
Thursday, Feb. 4         753,587                               Regular service
 Friday, Feb. 5              516,257                               Halted above ground service at 11 p.m.
 
 Saturday, Feb. 6         63,111                                 Underground service only; rail system closed at 11 p.m.
 Sunday, Feb. 7           90,139                                  Underground service only
 Monday, Feb. 8         124,057                                 Underground service only
 Tuesday, Feb. 9        261,522                                Five Blue Line stations closed; rail system closed at 8:45 p.m.
 Wednesday, Feb.      10 36,097                            Underground service only
 Thursday, Feb. 11 Available on Friday                Underground service only

[IMAGE]D-C-snowed-escalator-full.jpg[/IMAGE]