L.A. Transit Surpasses 1M Weekday Riders for First Time Since Pandemic

L.A. Metro averaged more than 1 million weekday riders for the first time since before the pandemic last month, according to an article from local news outlet KNX News. The milestone marks the 22nd consecutive month of year-over-year ridership growth. The announcement comes as transit ridership has lagged behind pre-pandemic levels in major cities across the country.

The article goes on to report that L.A. Metro’s combined bus and rail ridership reached 86.4 percent of its September 2019 pre-pandemic records, which exceeds the nationwide transit average of 76 percent of pre-pandemic levels. When divided between weekdays and weekends, Metro boardings stood at 83.6 percent and 96.9 percent of September 2019 levels respectively.

One of the driving factors in the sluggish ridership recovery is shifting work patterns (e.g., increase in remote work), as well as service cuts due to funding and staffing challenges. But all modes are not struggling, or recovering equally. According to a April article from Smart Cities Dive, bus transit has recovered faster nationwide, having reached 81 percent of 2019 ridership as of December 2023, while commuter rail has lagged at 65 percent. According to the KNX News article, L.A. Metro is bucking that trend, with commuter rail boardings increasing 10 percent in September 2024 compared to September 2023 versus 6.9 percent for bus boardings.