Metro Light-Rail Ridership Declines in May

As we mentioned in a previous post, ridership for the light-rail system fell in May. Today, Metro released the official figures: PHOENIX -- METRO ridership totaled 928,259 boardings in May 2009. The average weekday ridership was 33,553, average Saturday ridership was 27,176 and average Sunday and holiday ridership...

By Ray Stern

June 17, 2009

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As we mentioned in a previous post, ridership for the light-rail system fell in May.

Today, Metro released the official figures:

PHOENIX -- METRO ridership totaled 928,259 boardings in May 2009. The average weekday ridership was 33,553, average Saturday ridership was 27,176 and average Sunday and holiday ridership was 20,219.

In April, METRO exceeded one million riders with 1,044,135 total boardings, resulting in an average weekday ridership of 37,386, average Saturday ridership of 32,720 and average Sunday and holiday ridership of 22,694.

METRO attributes the slight decline in ridership to typical reductions in travel regionwide because of summer breaks for ASU and other schools, as well as the departure of winter visitors.

A fare increase on July 1 won't help matters. The one potential demographic for a ridership increase this summer: Folks too wasted to drive.

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.