Can you say… Record setting? Check this out. The October 2012 METRO light rail ridership numbers are out and they are BIG. This month, METRO is reporting 1,380,055 light rail boardings which is 9.6% higher than October of 2011.
The ASU football game on October 18th helped make the day the highest single ridership day in the history of our light rail system at over 65,000 boardings! If you remember, that was a Thursday game. Not only did that Thursday set a record, METRO also enjoyed the highest average Saturday boardings in the system’s history.
October 2012 ridership numbers look like this:
Total Boardings for October: 1,380,055 vs 1,245,064 in September:
Avg. Weekday Boardings: 48,904 vs 49,577 in September:
Avg Saturday Boardings: 38,346 vs 34,452 in September:
Avg Sunday / Holiday Boardings: 25,481 vs 21,808 in September:
Recreational ridership continues to be a huge part of the numbers along with ASU students – that stuff hasn’t changed much. This month there is just one home ASU football game, but the basketball team is playing, the Suns are back, and the Ironman event along with a ton of other things are sure to keep the numbers high. Remember when people said no one would ever ride this thing? We are seeing people ride for work, choosing to live nearby, and get to and from the airport. Who woulda’ believed these numbers back in 2008 when the first rides began?
*source of numbers: METRO light rail and October ridership press release
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