Twin Cities: Metro Transit reports ridership gain for fourth year in a row

[marmar]

(Star-Tribune) Ridership on Metro Transit buses and trains increased for the fourth straight year as the agency provided nearly 81.4 million rides in 2013, according to figures released Thursday.

Boardings on the Northstar Commuter line were up 12 percent compared to the previous year and were among the reasons Metro Transit saw an overall increase of 315,000 rides system wide, agency officials said.

"Only twice in 32 years has Metro Transit ridership reached this level," said General Manager Brian Lamb. "In 2013, we provided five million more rides than just four years ago."

Surprisingly, the number of people using the Blue Line dipped 3.2 percent to just over 10.1 million. But gains on the Northstar Line (up by 86,963 rides) and urban bus service (up by 565,266 rides) more than offset the drop in ridership on the light-rail line from downtown Minneapolis to the Mall of America. Agency officials attributed the ridership drop on the Blue Line to weekend disruptions. ....................(more)

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