Council: Metro Transit Sees Highest Ridership Since 1981
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The Metropolitan Council says that in 2014 Metro Transit buses and trains had the highest ridership tally in more than 30 years.
The council, which provides planning and essential services to the Twin Cities metro area, says that the increase in people using public transportation is a result of a larger metro population, changing preferences and expanded service.
The council says Metro Transit, the largest provider in the area, experienced a 4 percent increase in ridership in 2014. Buses and trains carried passengers on some 84.5 million trips, marking the highest ridership tally since 1981.
On an average week, buses gave passengers more than 224,000 rides, while light rail trains gave a little more than 62,000 rides.
Council Chair Adam Duininck said in a press release that these numbers show that investing in public transit pays off.
"The more we invest in transit, the more convenient and reliable the service becomes and the more people use it," he said.
Duininck added that Gov. Mark Dayton's proposed metro sales tax would speed up the continued growth of the region's transportation system and be a "smart investment" in the economy, the workforce and the environment.
Across all providers in the seven-county metro, public transportation ridership in 2014 was up 3.5 percent, the council said.
Some of the biggest jumps in ridership were seen with the University of Minnesota bus service – which got a big boost from the Green Line opening in the summer – and Metro Mobility, the service for people with disabilities that is seeing increased use from the state's aging population.
