L.A. Metro Ridership Continues Upward Trend

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) shared that in May the agency had a 16% year-over-year increase in ridership with nearly 25 million boardings, marking the sixth consecutive month of ridership growth.

These numbers indicate that almost 900,000 riders used bus, rail, and microtransit systems each weekday during the month.

Additionally, on the weekends, the agency saw average Saturday boardings at more than 84% of pre-pandemic levels and Sunday boardings at over 90% of pre-pandemic levels (633,338/Saturday and 522,199/Sundays) during May.

“People are seeing the steps Metro is taking systemwide to improve safety and the customer experience, and they are choosing public transportation once again,” said Metro Board Chair Ara J. Najarian. “With our new Ambassadors helping riders navigate their trips, the increased number of Transit Security Officers, and additional law enforcement, riders see and feel Metro’s commitment to them.”

L.A. Metro Ridership Numbers

Nearly 20 million (19,533,498) rides were taken on Metro buses during the month, along with more than 5.4 million (5,408,055) rides on the rail system. Almost 110,000 more rides were taken each day this May compared to last May.

That’s nearly 3.4 million more rides delivered to customers throughout our system in May 2023 compared to May 2022. Total ridership is now at 77 % of 2019 levels.

The overall trend post-pandemic shows ridership recovery on the weekends continues to outpace recovery on weekdays. Metro has now recovered 88% of its pre-pandemic ridership on weekends on both bus and rail, compared to 74% on weekdays.

The ridership growth on rail was led by weekday gains on the B Line (Red)/D Line (Purple) subway. Average Weekday Ridership on the subway B Line and D Line is up more than 20% year-over-year, and up 11.5% since January 2023.