L.A. Metro rail ridership up 23% in October

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) systemwide ridership estimates in Los Angeles County rose by double digits in October compared with the same month one year before, according to the latest service performance reports.

As a recovering economy takes hold, Metro system ridership numbers for October show a continuing increase in weekday boardings. Overall, Metro Rail ridership rose by more than 23% from 8.1 million boardings in October 2011 to 9.9 million boardings in October 2012. Metro Bus ridership rose by nearly 5% during the same period, going from 31.1 million boardings in October 2011 to 32.7 million last month.

In terms of average weekday boardings, Metro Rail ridership showed a 19% gain compared to one year ago, totaling 360,901 average weekday boardings on the entire 87.7-mile system.

The Metro Blue Line, up 19.5% from one year ago, tallied an average of 92,953 weekday boardings. The Metro Green Line recorded an average of 46,544 weekday boardings, up 8.7%. The Metro Gold Line logged 42,417 average weekday boardings, up 15.3%. The Metro Red/Purple Line averaged 157,605 weekday boardings in October, an increase of 8.1% from one year ago.

After opening two new stations in June, the new Expo Line, which reported 11,347 weekday boardings in its May start-up reports, continued its upward climb to 21,382 boardings.

Since October 2011, ridership on Metro's bus system showed a noticeable increase of 2.1%, averaging more than 1.19 million boarding passengers on an average weekday in October.

Ridership on the Metro Orange Line, which now includes boardings from the new four-mile extension to Chatsworth, grew to 32,069 average weekday boardings, up 20.5% from one year ago. While the Silver Line express bus service from the El Monte Bus Station to the Harbor Freeway Transitway, grew to 13,765 average weekday boardings from 11,234 in October 2011, up 22% from one year ago.