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June 25, 2001 |
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High gasoline prices
send subway ridership soaring in May; The Metro Red Line
subway has experienced its greatest one-month gain in numerical ridership
since the system debuted in 1993, with the exception of new segment grand
openings. In May 2001, there were
approximately 10,000 more weekday daily boarding passengers each day,
134,675, as compared to April 2001 when weekday daily boarding passengers
averaged 125,050. In May 2000, one-month
before the 17.4 mile Metro Red Line opened in the San Fernando Valley,
ridership equaled 65,150 weekday daily boarding passengers. Following the
6.3 mile extension, ridership soared to 119,150 weekday daily boarding
passengers. “Ridership has been
building for the last two to three months,” said MTA Analyst Ashok
Kumar. “Although more analysis is required, including the origination of
most of this new ridership, it appears the main reason for the increase is
the continued high cost of gasoline. “I would also
speculate that the people in the Valley account for the highest share of
the ridership increase since they find it much more economical to take the
subway on long trips to downtown jobs.” Overall, ridership on
the 59.4 mile Metro Rail, which includes the 22-mile light rail Metro Blue
Line and 20-mile light rail Metro Green (D) Line, increased from 216,400
weekday daily boarding passengers in April 2001 to 228,750 weekday daily
boarding passengers in May 2001. Ridership on the Metro Blue Line jumped
from 62,850 weekday daily boarding passengers in April 2001 to 63,725 in
May 2001. On the Metro Green (D) Line, daily weekday boarding passengers in
April 2001 grew from 28,500 to 30,350 in May 2001. June ridership numbers
are not expected to be released until mid-July. MTA-093 |
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