The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) announced annual ridership surpassed 80 million passenger trips for the first time since the pandemic. 

The transit agency recorded 81,181,071 boardings during Fiscal Year 2025 (July 2024–June 2025), a 7.1% increase from the 75,663,343 trips taken in Fiscal Year 2024.

“Surpassing 80 million trips shows that more San Diegans are choosing transit than ever before,” said Stephen Whitburn, MTS board chair. “It’s a testament to the investments we’ve made in reliability, safety, and service quality — and to the dedicated MTS team that works every day to keep our region moving.”

MTS Ridership Bouncing Back

During the pandemic, MTS experienced a steep decline in ridership as hundreds of thousands of San Diegans stayed home. 

Since that time, ridership has continued to rebound year after year. This is due in part to the agency’s efforts to attract more riders by expanding its services, increasing Trolley service frequency, and bolstering security. These efforts have resulted in intense customer satisfaction and high community value ratings from riders. 

The annual ridership growth marks a significant post-pandemic milestone for MTS, with annual boardings now at 95.1% of the pre-pandemic peak in fiscal year 2019 (85,357,495 trips).

“We’ve recovered more than 95% of our pre-pandemic ridership, which speaks volumes about the trust our riders place in MTS and the value of public transit in San Diego,” said Sharon Cooney, MTS CEO. “This milestone shows just how far we’ve come since the pandemic’s lowest point, and we’ll continue building on that momentum to reach even more riders in the years ahead.”

Ridership Milestones

In October 2024, MTS logged 7,720,681 passenger trips, the highest ridership month in the fiscal year. 

During a week in the same month, the agency reported an average of 281,972 passengers per day, the highest week on record since the onset of the pandemic. 

Other ridership milestones for MTS include:

• Twelve bus routes experienced ridership increases of 15% or higher.

• Eleven (11) bus routes surpassed the million-trip mark.

• Bus Routes 7 and 13 surpassed 1.9 million boardings. (1,900,135 and 1,900,795 respectively — a 660 boarding difference).