The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) announced that the agency saw a total of 284,905,030 million boardings on its buses and trains in 2023, an 11.6% increase over 2022 ridership numbers, and the highest numbers since the pandemic, with some weekend days exceeding pre-pandemic numbers.
“We’ve been working hard over the last couple of years to put people first and make our system cleaner, safer, more reliable, and easier to use than ever before,” said Stephanie Wiggins, CEO of Metro. “Because of all our improvements, Angelenos are increasingly making Metro their mode of choice to get to their favorite destinations, especially on weekends. We look forward to building on the success of 2023 and making 2024 an even better year for Angelenos and our agency.”
Factors Influencing Ridership Increase for L.A. Metro
Metro listed the factors that have impacted ridership:
Increased safety: In 2023 Metro began implementing an approach to safety consisting of law enforcement, Metro Transit Security, private security, Metro Ambassadors, and care teams. These layers have worked together to provide a more visible presence on the system, address and prevent crime, provide an enhanced customer experience, and connect people to the appropriate services.
Improved cleanliness: Along with improved safety, Metro prioritized improved cleanliness on our buses and trains and in both public and non-public areas of our stations. As part of that, Metro replaced the cloth seats on all the buses and trains with vinyl seating and hired additional custodians and cleaning staff to increase the frequency of cleaning the buses and trains, including improved end-of-line and station cleaning throughout our service hours.
Improved service: Throughout the year, Metro improved reliability and frequency of service, added additional late-night service, opened bus-only lanes, provided additional service when needed for special events, and hired more than 1,000 additional bus and rail operators joined Metro. Bus service was fully restored to pre-pandemic levels in December 2022. Metro now has more than 50 miles of bus priority lanes throughout the City of Los Angeles, including the newly opened bus-only lanes on Venice Boulevard and La Brea Avenue. Improvements were also seen on Metro Rail. The opening of the Regional Connector in June with the newly reconfigured A and E Lines, marked seven months of operation by year’s end and combined saw a 33.4% ridership increase in December 2023 over December 2022 when operating as three lines (A/E/L).
Increased leisure ridership: Metro’s weekend ridership continues to lead to overall ridership growth. Leisure riders are using the service for weekend events and throughout-the-year activities such as Taylor Swift Eras Concerts, the Hard Summer Music Festival, college football and Rams and Chargers games, Dodgers games, and holiday celebrations like Grand Park’s NYELA Countdown to 2024, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations.
A More Affordable L.A. Metro
Metro has introduced several programs that support making Metro more affordable for all its riders.
Riders who use Metro’s reduced-price transit pass programs, such as the student GoPass pilot program, which offers free transit passes to K-12 and community college students, and its Low-Income Fare is Easy (LIFE) program, which provides free rides and reduced fares to low-income customers, are utilizing the benefits.
In 2023 the GoPass Pilot Program saw 17,687,286 total boardings versus 11,699,879 in 2022, a 51% increase. The LIFE Program had a 52% increase over 2022 ridership with 14,557,528 boardings in 2023 compared to 9,556,191 in 2022.
In June, Metro introduced a fare-capping policy under which riders who pay with a TAP card pay no more than $5 a day or $18 over seven days. Once they’ve reached those limits, they ride free for the remainder of the day or a seven-day period.
Metro’s Mobility Wallet Pilot Program provides a debit card with $150 per month to spend on transportation. The card can be used to take the bus, ride the train, use bike share, take Metro-Micro, and more.
