Ridership on the Expo Line (now called the E Line, but we’re holdouts) has continued to grow as ridership across the L.A. Metro rail and bus lines continue to rebound from the lows of the pandemic.
Compared to a year earlier, weekday ridership, Saturday ridership and Sunday ridership were all up by well over 10% on the Expo Line in June. On weekdays, ridership increased from 160,841 riders to 183,812, a 14.3% increase. Growth was similar on weekends: 130,644 to 146,558 on Saturdays and 111,283 to 128,860 on Sundays.
“Metro’s three new downtown stations stitched together the A, L and E lines, and made getting around Los Angeles easier and more fun,” said Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins. “Our riders can now easily visit downtown restaurants and events, and travel through three beautiful art filled stations which are quickly becoming destinations in themselves.”
According to a Metro press release, weekend ridership was buoyed by a series of special events in June that are now easier to reach thanks to the newly opened Regional Connector.
Weekend ridership was driven in part by special events on the weekends such as the Pride Parade, Pride Night at Dodger Stadium, Pride in the Park, and CicLAvia South L.A. The opening of the Regional Connector stations in the Little Tokyo/Arts District, Historic Broadway and Grand Ave Arts/Bunker Hill also generated some excitement, with more than 100,000 riding the new A and E lines on opening day. More than 82,000 people continued to ride the new lines over the opening weekend.
Ridership grew across both the rail and bus systems, but the increases were not as robust system-wide as they were on the Expo Line. More than 5 million (5,145,536) trips were taken on the rail system in June, an increase of 14.2% over June 2022. Rail ridership growth was led by gains on the B Line (Red)/D Line (Purple) subway. Average weekday ridership on the B Line and D Line is up 15.5 percent year-over-year, and up 5.6 percent since January 2023. Average Sunday ridership on the B Line and D Line now exceeds its level in June 2019, before the pandemic.
Bus ridership continued to lead overall with 18,679,084 rides taken during the month, and total bus ridership in June 2023 was almost 84% of its level in June 2019, before the pandemic.
“I’m excited that people continue to return to our buses, trains and rideshare services,” said Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Board Chair Karen Bass. “With the opening of the Regional Connector last month, Metro has made it more accessible and affordable to travel by public transit across the region, and the benefits of this new connectivity are translating into increased ridership. I look forward to seeing ridership continue to grow as we work to expand the system and make it safer and more welcoming for all.”
