In October, L.A. Metro again achieved ridership gains, averaging more than one million weekday riders and marking the 23rd consecutive month of year-over-year ridership growth. 

Metro’s combined bus and rail ridership in October reached 86% of its October 2019 pre-pandemic ridership level. Metro’s average weekday boardings reached 83.9% of October 2019 pre-pandemic levels and on the weekends, ridership attained 97.5% of its pre-pandemic level.

Bus Ridership

The Metro bus system saw 22,498,869 trips in October, marking a 7.5% ridership increase compared to October 2023. Average weekday bus ridership was 804,963 in October, surpassing last month’s new weekday ridership benchmark by 684 new riders to become the highest bus ridership Metro has seen since February 2020. 

On average, 545,208 trips were taken on Metro buses on Saturdays in October, while an average of 450,972 trips were taken on Sundays. October’s weekend bus ridership now stands at 95.8% of its October 2019 re-pandemic level.

Ridership on Metro’s two Bus Rapid Transit lines also increased in October. Ridership on the J Line, which runs on dedicated bus lanes on the 10 and 110 freeways from El Monte to San Pedro, rose 10.6% compared to October 2023. Ridership on the G Line, which serves the San Fernando Valley, rose by 4.7% year-over-year in October 2024.

Rail Ridership

Rail boardings grew by nearly 8.6% in October 2024 over October 2023, and Metro’s rail ridership now stands at 85.1% of its October 2019 pre-pandemic level. Weekday rail boardings grew by 14.2% year-over year. 

Weekday rail ridership in October 2024 was 95.8% of its October 2019 pre-pandemic level while October 2024 weekend rail ridership exceeded October 2019 pre-pandemic level by 3.1%.

In October Metro’s light rail system saw the biggest ridership gains on the K Line with 23% year-over-year growth and the E Line with 18.5% year-over-year growth. Ridership on the A Line grew 13.3% year-over-year, while ridership on the C Line grew 7.1%.

Strong Weekend Ridership Continues

Leisure riders continue to drive overall ridership growth, especially on the weekends. 

In October weekend rail ridership exceeded its pre-pandemic level reaching 103.1%. Weekend bus boardings reaching 95.8% of pre-pandemic October 2019 weekend ridership levels.