San Diego MTS Sees Ridership Increase as Gas Prices Soar

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) announced it has seen an increase in transit ridership in recent months as gas prices continue to rise.

“MTS was budgeting for an 11% increase in ridership over last fiscal year. Our new estimates show ridership will jump 45% over the previous year,” said Sharon Cooney, MTS CEO. “We still have room to grow to get back to pre-pandemic levels, but these are great indicators. This sustained growth coupled with recent ridership spikes prove that people are motivated to save money, and still know that transit is a safe and affordable way to get around.” 

Ridership was up to nearly 200,000 trips per weekday (197,000) for the week of March 7 to 11, which is approximately 70% of the pre-COVID baseline. 

Trolley ridership has also grown to more than 80% of pre-pandemic level. On Wednesday, March 9, ridership jumped 102% systemwide vs. the same day in 2021

Additionally, the agency has seen a 111% ridership increase on trolleys and a 94% ridership increase on buses.

The UC San Diego Blue Line is now averaging nearly 60,000 trips per weekday since the start of February, according to the news release. This is approximately a 33% ridership increase since the extension opened in November 2021.