Metro Transit saw its busiest month of the year in August as the transit agency provided more than 4.2 million rides on its buses, light-rail trains and commuter rail lines.
And more passengers than ever hopped on the Metro Orange line during August, logging 51,200 trips taken on the rapid bus line that runs between downtown Minneapolis and Burnsville, largely along Interstate 35W.
Ridership numbers systemwide for the year rose 8.5% to 31.5 million rides for the first eight months of the year compared with the same time period a year ago, transit officials said Friday.
Metro Transit’s rapid bus lines — the A-Line, C-Line and D-Line — saw large growth with a 19% ridership increase from January through August compared with 2023 figures. Overall, bus rides grew 9% to 21.3 million, the agency said.
Train rides were sharply higher, too, with 10.2 million rides taken on the Green and Blue lines through Aug. 31. The Northstar commuter line doubled its passenger load from a year ago to more than 86,000, this year Metro Transit said.
The upswing in ridership comes as Metro Transit has ambitious plans to expand service by 35% within three years. The Met Council, which operates Metro Transit, on Wednesday kicked off a public comment period to gather feedback about an initiative called Network Now.
“Across our region, transit plays a critical role in connecting people, strengthening communities and improving lives,” General Manager Lesley Kandaras said. “We are actively seeking feedback on this draft plan to ensure it will serve as a valuable roadmap as we strive to make our services more attractive and widely available.”
Specifically, Network Now calls for beefing up service on 65 routes, with 15 of those routes having buses running at least every 15 minutes. Light-rail trains would run every 10 minutes instead of every 12 minutes, and some express buses corridors could see all-day service.
