MTS logged more than 9 million trips in October—the highest ridership of any single month
San Diego, Calif. – The Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) reports that there have been more than 1 million more trips on the bus and Trolley during the first four months of the fiscal year compared to the same period last year.
“Based on these results, ridership is on pace to increase to nearly 100 million trips over the course of the year,” said Paul Jablonski, CEO of MTS. “MTS is delivering more public transit options than ever before at higher frequencies with its three new Rapid routes. Combined with its other services, riders are finding MTS more convenient than ever before. This is a tremendous response from the public.”
For the fiscal year-to-date, MTS ridership has increased 3 percent over the previous year. MTS Bus ridership increased from 18,789,885 to 19,700,434. MTS Trolley ridership increased from 13,851,097 to 13,977,605. Combined, ridership increased by 1,037,057 during the first four months of FY 2015 to 33,678,039 trips.
The most significant increase in ridership was seen in October. MTS Bus logged 5,426,882 trips – the highest ridership of any single month in the history of the agency. Overall, MTS had more than 9 million boardings on the bus and Trolley in October, also a systemwide record.
MTS officials credited higher frequencies and new services as the main reasons for the increase. MTS implemented a major route reconfiguration along the I-15 corridor that included the launch of Rapid 235 and Rapid Express 280 and 290 in June, and Rapid 237 in October. Rapid 235 is averaging nearly 4,000 daily trips, connecting passengers from Escondido to Downtown San Diego with fewer stops and no transfers via the I-15. Rapid 215, which began service on Oct. 12 is averaging more than 6,000 daily trips and connects San Diego State University to Downtown San Diego. Officials also reported record ridership increases on the SuperLoop – a fast and frequent route serving many major destinations in University City and UC San Diego.
MTS operates more than 90 bus routes and three Trolley lines on 53 miles of double-tracked railway. More than 300,000 passenger trips are taken on MTS bus and Trolley services each weekday. For more information on how you can use public transportation and save money, visit www.sdmts.com.
