Meeting_Body
OPERATIONS, SAFETY, AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE COMMITTEE
FEBRUARY 20, 2025
Subject
SUBJECT: NEXTGEN RIDERSHIP UPDATE - Q3 CY2024
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE status update on NextGen Bus Ridership.
Issue
ISSUE
This report provides an assessment of Metro’s bus ridership for the third quarter of calendar year 2024 (Q3 CY2024) consisting of July, August, and September 2024 compared to the pre-pandemic/pre-NextGen Bus Plan ridership from the same period in 2019. Ridership changes are examined by day type (weekday, Saturday, Sunday), service area, across Equity Focus Communities (EFCs)/non-EFCs, time period, line/line group, and average passenger trip length.
Background
BACKGROUND
• The Metro Board adopted the NextGen Bus Plan in October 2020.
• The NextGen Bus Plan was designed to create a fast, frequent, and reliable Metro bus system and to be rolled out in two phases: “Reconnect” and “Transit First.”
• Reconnect was the initial phase to restructure the existing network, and it was implemented over three implementation dates between December 2020 and December 2021.
• Transit First was an additional phase to maximize the plan’s effectiveness through strategic, quick-build capital investments to improve bus speeds and direct saved revenue service hours to bus frequency improvements.
• While the NextGen Bus Plan was fully implemented by the end of 2021, the national operator shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic required Metro to temporarily reduce service by 10% in February 2022 to stabilize service reliability.
• Full restoration of NextGen Bus Plan service levels was completed in phases by December 2022.
• Metro continued to operate the full NextGen bus service levels through 2023 into 2024 with improved reliability due to full bus operator staffing, achieved by August 2023.
• However, a 1-2% operator shortage has existed since the December 2023 service change, when the operator requirement increased due to more peak service from increased ridership and some recruiting challenges. Recruitment efforts have been ramped up in response, and overall canceled service levels remain low, though higher than in the second half of CY2023.
The NextGen Bus Plan Reconnect phase implementation established a set of service frequency tiers for Metro’s 119 bus lines, summarized in Table 1. Tier 1 and 2 lines are all-day, high-frequency services designed to support ridership growth across the NextGen network and to help ridership recover after the drop caused by the pandemic. Tier 3 and 4 lines ensure neighborhood connectivity and coverage throughout the service area.
Table 1: NextGen Frequency Tiers as of December 2022
When fully implemented, the Transit First scenario was expected to achieve a 15-20% increase in ridership. This expected increased ridership was attributable to increased speed of service/reduced travel times from implementing items from the speed and reliability tool kit, including new bus lanes, expanded transit signal priority, all-door boarding, and reinvestment of time savings for increased service frequencies. Progress on such implementations includes 70.7 lane miles of new bus priority lanes implemented as of September 2024, and 23.9 additional lane miles are in planning (Vermont Av) or pending construction (Florence Av, Santa Monica Bl). Transit signal priority and all-door boarding are other speed and reliability initiatives that should begin implementation in the first half of CY2025, with ongoing optimization of bus stops and terminals.
Metro bus ridership continues to recover and is near pre-COVID levels. This quarterly report is intended to track progress towards the ridership growth expected from the NextGen Bus Plan, including growth supported by implementing the remaining Transit First bus speed and reliability improvements.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
In examining ridership results to date, it is essential to note the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in March 2020 and significantly affected Metro bus service levels and ridership and societal changes such as increased telecommuting.
As of Q3 CY2024, average daily bus system ridership continues to grow. The recovery rates of Q3 CY2024 compared to Q2 CY 2024 are:
• Weekday ridership was 82.9% (record Q3 post-COVID average weekday ridership of 804,279 in September 2024)
• Saturday ridership was 91.6% (record Q3 post-COVID average Saturday ridership of 535,682 in August 2024)
• Sunday ridership was 97.0% (record Q3 post-COVID average Sunday ridership of 449,902 in August 2024).
The San Fernando Valley continues to show the highest ridership recovery in Q3 CY2024 compared to the four other service areas at 89.6% of pre-pandemic Q3 CY2019 levels on weekdays, 101.4% on Saturdays, and 110.6% on Sundays. Increased ridership of 3-6% occurred on weekdays over the same quarter of 2023, with similar gains on Saturdays and even larger increases (8-12%) on Sundays. Many San Fernando Valley lines benefit from NextGen Bus Plan investments, especially off-peak frequencies. However, they were mainly Tier 2 lines, with service improved all day, weekday, and 15-minute service and some weekend improvements.
The proportion of boardings in Equity Focus Communities (EFCs) remains up this quarter at around 1.13% above pre-pandemic levels on weekdays, with Saturdays up 0.32% and Sundays up 0.3%. Again, the NextGen Bus Plan prioritized EFCs for frequency improvements.
Midday weekday Q3 CY2024 ridership recovery was at 85% of pre-pandemic levels, exceeding both AM peak (74%) and PM peak (81%) recovery. This aligns with the focus on investing service hours in the midday period under the NextGen Bus Plan and changes in travel patterns related to factors such as increased telecommuting by office workers.
The average passenger trip length remains at around 3.5 miles, the same as the previous quarter. It is below the pre-NextGen/pre-COVID average passenger trip lengths above 4 miles, reflecting both post-COVID changes to trip-making (more telecommuting, etc.) and the NextGen focus on increasing market share for the shorter 1-5 mile trips.
In Q3 CY2024, there were 20 lines/line groups weekday (up from 18 in Q2), 29 lines/line groups Saturday (up from 24), and 43 lines/line groups Sunday (up from 40), exceeding their pre-COVID Q3 CY2019 ridership numbers, even with overall recovery rates for each day type declining slightly. The strongest recoveries continue to be those with significant NextGen improvements.
A more detailed analysis is provided in Attachment A, which this report summarizes. Attachments B, C, and D to this report provide detailed data on systemwide and line/line group level for average weekday, Saturday, and Sunday bus ridership observed between Q3 CY2019 (pre-pandemic and pre-NextGen) and the same period Q3 CY2024. The period of this analysis tracks the significant drop in ridership at the beginning of the COVID pandemic in early 2020 and the subsequent recovery in ridership and service restoration in 2021 based on the implementation of the NextGen Bus Plan.
Ridership Trends from 2019 to 2024
Complete restoration of bus service by December 2022, combined with more reliable service delivery and programs such as GoPass for students and LIFE Program for low-income riders, have contributed to much stronger ridership recovery through 2023 and continuing in 2024. This reinforces the importance of frequent and reliable service delivery in attracting and retaining ridership.
In March 2024, average weekday bus ridership again exceeded 750,000, and the post-pandemic average weekday ridership of 761,757 records set in October 2023 was exceeded in both April and May 2024 (762,811 and 772,969, respectively). The highest monthly averages in 2024 were September (804,279, the last month of the quarter being reported on here) and October) (804,963). (Attachment A Chart 6 - Average Weekday Ridership 2019 - 2024)
Chart 1: Average Weekday Ridership by Month
Ridership by Service Area
Ridership recovery was examined for each of the five Metro Service Council areas. The San Fernando Valley shows the highest rate of weekday ridership recovery, at 89.6% in Q3 CY2024 (down from 91.3% in Q1 CY2024). This recovery rate, in part, shows a strong response to NextGen Bus Plan improvements that created a network of 10 local lines and the Metro G Line BRT with 10-15 minute frequencies all day on weekdays across the San Fernando Valley. The NextGen changes improved these lines, especially during off-peak hours when many of these lines had frequencies ranging from 20 to 30 minutes. Several lines in the East Valley were also restructured to match regional travel patterns that were more focused on North Hollywood. The Q3 CY2024 San Fernando Valley area average weekday ridership compared to Q1 CY2024 was up 11.1%, so ridership growth remains strong.
The four other Service Council areas’ weekday ridership recovery rates for Q3 CY2024 were as follows, each declining slightly compared to the previous quarter:
• San Gabriel Valley: 77.4% (up from 74.4% in Q3 CY2023)
• Gateway Cities: 79.6% (up from 75.1% in Q3 CY2023)
• Westside Central: 78.6% (up from 74.6% in Q3 CY2023)
• South Bay Cities: 84.8% (up from 78.3% in Q3 CY2023)
Of the above service areas, South Bay Cities has exceeded the other three areas by over 5%. Attention will be given to the other three service areas to look for opportunities to improve service to generate higher ridership. Examples include the Line 260 extension to Willowbrook and Line 665 frequency improvement in East LA, which are being implemented in the December 2024 service change. Two small lines in the San Gabriel Valley service area (Pasadena) will be transferred to municipal operator Pasadena Transit to integrate into their network for improved local travel options, as planned in NextGen. Also, new bus lanes on Roscoe Bl should provide faster, more reliable service for Line 152 to better serve our riders and increase ridership.
Table 2: Percentage Change in Average Daily Ridership by Service Area and Day Type
On Saturdays, San Fernando Valley again showed the highest recovery at 101.4%, while other areas were at 81.7 to 91.3%. Saturday ridership increases in all service areas were 3-8% over the same quarter in CY2023.
The average Sunday ridership recovery rate was 97.0% overall. San Fernando Valley's recovery rate was 110.6%, and other service areas were 87.3% to 99.1%. Sunday Q3 CY2024 ridership recovery rates showed 8 and 12% increases compared to Q3 CY2023, with South Bay Cities the next best to San Fernando Valley and almost fully recovered at 99.1%.
Table 2 shows the percentage change in average daily ridership by service area between Q3 CY2023 and Q3 CY2024. While the Q3 CY2024 rate of recovery versus Q3 CY2019 was less than that of Q2, the overall growth in ridership remained strong in all service areas on all day types, with South Bay Cities showing the strongest growth between Q3 2023 and Q3 2024, and Sunday having strongest growth in all five service areas. (See also Attachment A, Charts 10-12, Average Weekday, Saturday, and Sunday Ridership Recovery by Service Area Q3 CY2019 - Q3 CY2024)
Ridership by Time Period
As of Q3 CY2024, early AM and AM peak period ridership remains the least recovered at 78% and 74% of 2019 levels, respectively, while the PM peak and evening recovery rates were both 81%. By contrast, the midday, late evening, and Owl periods share of weekday ridership continued to have the highest recovery rates compared to their 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels at 85%, 90%, and 95%, respectively. This suggests that fewer traditional office workers commute on transit during peak morning hours. The increase in midday share of weekday ridership is consistent with the intent of the NextGen Bus Plan to grow ridership during off-peak weekdays.
Weekend ridership recovery by time of day was higher than weekdays in Q3 CY2024. Saturday AM peak ridership had the lowest recovery rate at 84%, while Saturday early AM, midday, PM peak, and evening were slightly more recovered at 92%, 87%, 88%, and 90%, respectively, suggesting these periods lead the Saturday ridership recovery. As with weekdays, the Saturday late evening and Owl periods had the highest recovery rates of 96% and 99%, respectively, with their usage likely dominated by those dependent on transit. Sunday recovery rates by time period for Q3 CY2024 were closer together at between 95% and 102%, except early AM, which at 115% exceeded the overnight Owl period recovery (102%), the only other period to exceed 100% in Q3 CY 2024 compared to Q3 CY2019. (Attachment A, Charts 14-16: Weekday, Saturday, and Sunday Ridership by Time Period Q3 CY2019 - Q3 CY2024)
Ridership by Equity Focus Communities (EFC)
Average daily boardings in EFCs increased by up to 1.6% on weekdays, 1.2% on Saturdays, and 0.8% on Sundays during Q2 CY2020, when COVID was most active, compared to pre-COVID. By Q3 CY2024, EFC boardings were 1.13% higher than pre-COVID on weekdays and had returned closer to pre-COVID levels on weekends (up 0.32% Saturday, up 0.3% Sunday). The trips made in the early part of COVID are more likely to have been made by people who relied on transit to access essential jobs and services and mainly reside in EFCs. The NextGen Bus Plan prioritized investing in frequency improvements for key lines serving EFCs, which has likely contributed to the 1%+ increase in the share of boardings weekdays that should continue to be seen in EFCs in 2024 and 2025. This change may also be attributable to fewer choice riders using weekday services in non-EFCs, with factors such as telecommuting continuing post-pandemic.
Chart 2: EFC Ridership as a Percentage of Total Ridership
(See also Attachment A, Chart 13: Percentage of Total Boardings in EFCs by Day Type: Q3 CY2019 through Q3 CY2024)
Lines serving Equity Focus Communities with the strongest ridership recovery (over 90% recovered weekdays and weekends) include:
• Vermont Av Local Line 204
• Central Av Line 53
• Compton Av Line 55
• Vernon Av Line 105
• Slauson Av Line 108
• Gage Av Line 110
• Florence Av Line 111
• Century Bl Line 117
• Willowbrook Av Line 202
• Hoover St Line 603,
• W 8th St and E Olympic Bl in East LA Line 66
• Soto St East LA and Huntington Park Line 251
• Huntington Park Shuttle Line 611
• Boyle Heights Shuttle Line 605
Many of these lines operate 15-minute or better service all day on weekdays as a result of the NextGen Bus Plan implementation.
Metro has deployed the full annualized 7 million revenue service hours planned under the NextGen Bus Plan, with service frequencies specifically targeting EFCs. Ridership recovery has been weaker on lines serving Downtown LA, which have seen reductions in daily office worker attendance due to increased telecommuting and associated impacts on service industry jobs. This is despite NextGen frequency improvements (examples include Broadway Line 45, Avalon Bl Line 51 in South LA, W Olympic Bl Line 28, and Pico Bl Line 30). Metro will continue to monitor ridership recovery on each line to determine if adjustments to the NextGen Bus Plan are needed to address impacts coming out of COVID.
Average Trip Length
The Metro bus system's average passenger (unlinked) trip length dropped from 4.2-4.3 miles to just below 3.0 miles in the pandemic year 2021. This trend was likely due to a significant reduction in long-distance commute trips. As ridership recovered in 2022 through 2024, average passenger trip lengths have increased to and remained at around 3.5 miles, well below pre-COVID lengths. This change was expected as COVID has transitioned trip-making to shorter trips, a market identified through the NextGen Bus study as a significant opportunity to grow ridership with more frequent local bus lines serving shorter distance trips. This change in average passenger trip length is seen for weekdays and weekends. (Attachment A, Chart 17 Average Passenger Trip Length)
Ridership and Productivity by Service Tiers and Lines
This section compares average daily line ridership for Q3 CY2024 versus Q3 CY2019 for each day type (weekday, Saturday, Sunday). Because the NextGen Bus Plan change involved restructuring lines and groups of lines, to provide a fair comparison of the changes in ridership, this analysis must, in some cases, be based on comparing ridership for groups of lines. While in Q3 2024, 119 individual Metro bus lines were operating, the ridership recovery rate analysis is based on 82 Weekday, 75 Saturday, and 74 Sunday lines/line groups. Detailed data is included in Attachments B, C, and D, respectively.
The overall bus system ridership recovery rate in Q3 CY2024 was 82.9% for weekdays, 91.6% for Saturdays, and 97.0% for Sundays compared to Q3 CY2019 as a pre-COVID baseline. There were 20 (up from 18 in Q2) weekday, 29 Saturday (up from 24 in Q2), and 43 (up from 40 in Q1) Sunday lines/line groups exceeding their pre-COVID Q3 CY2019 ridership numbers in Q3 CY2024. The review focused on lines showing above and below system average ridership recovery. The review also examined lines/line groups for the four NextGen Bus Plan Tiers.
The high number of Tier 1 (10-minute or better weekday service) and Tier 2 (15-minute or better weekday service) lines/line groups (which make up 46% of all bus lines) with above-average recovery suggests that the improved frequencies implemented through the NextGen Bus Plan are a vital component of more robust ridership recovery:
Table 3: Line Recover by Tier and Day Type
The higher frequencies in Tier 1 and Tier 2 continue to show stronger recovery; some of these lines also include route changes to better connect riders to key destinations.
The common denominator of less ridership recovery along some Tier 1 and Tier 2 lines is that they serve Downtown LA. This neighborhood has seen reduced daily work-related trips due to increased telecommuting, negatively impacting many downtown service industry businesses and further reducing travel to downtown LA. Some of these lines were also restructured to move riders to other bus lines or, in some cases, rail lines. An opportunity exists to promote downtown LA travel on the new Metro Regional Connector and the Metro bus network for those returning to work and the many leisure and entertainment events occurring there.
This pattern was noted for the G and J Line BRT services, with notably lower ridership recovery, especially on weekdays. Before COVID, these lines had higher usage by discretionary riders who appear not to be traveling as much for work in downtown LA or other locations, such as Van Nuys or Warner Center in 2023. Notable ridership changes also occurred in the Vermont corridor, where frequent Local and Rapid bus lines have continued to operate. The ridership recovery rate for the corridor overall was 87.3% on weekdays (down from 88.7% in Q2), with the Local Line 204 having a recovery rate of 105.7% (down from 109.3% in Q2). By comparison, the Vermont Rapid Line 754 serves a very high EFC corridor with the same frequency as the local line but on a limited stop format and had a ridership recovery rate of 68.7% (up from 67.7% in Q2). Line 754 saw notably high cancellation rates in 2022, which may have diverted riders to use the Local bus. The same patterns were seen for Saturday (Local 118.5%; Rapid 69.0%) and Sunday (Local 104.1%; Rapid 83.7%).
As mentioned, the performance of the largely Tier 2 network of lines in the San Fernando Valley is notable for its strong ridership recovery as a group. Other Tier 2 lines across Metro’s service area had similarly high ridership recovery rates. Examples include Line 55 on Compton Av, Line 110 on Gage Av, and Line 117 on Century Bl, all serving South LA, and Line 605, serving Boyle Heights.
Several Tier 3 lines had frequency improvements that generated high ridership recovery. By comparison, many Tier 4 lines (40-60 minute frequency) had low ridership recovery and, in most cases, no NextGen route changes and a lower percentage of route miles serving EFCs. It will be essential to test the best performers among these lines by upgrading to a 30-minute service to see what impact that might have on their ridership recovery.
Data also consistently showed that increased service hours implemented through the NextGen Bus Plan for many lines or line groups generated higher ridership recovery and better productivity compared to lines that saw stable or fewer service hours compared to pre-NextGen. This suggests that the NextGen Bus Plan changes have successfully generated a good return from service hours reinvested in the NextGen frequent network.
More details on line-level ridership can be found in the report (Attachment A) and data tables (Attachments B, C, D). This analysis shows that the NextGen Bus Plan’s focus on a fast, frequent, and reliable network supports higher ridership recovery. These ridership recovery results will continue to be tracked and reported on as further investments in NextGen bus speed and reliability improvements occur, including new bus lanes, expanded transit signal priority, and all door boarding (more details on these initiatives are in the next section). Staff will review ridership for Q4 CY2024 (October through December 2024) as the basis for the next ridership report.
Speed and Reliability
Beyond the initial Reconnect phase of the NextGen Bus Plan, which involves route restructuring and the establishment of frequency tiers, the Transit First scenario of NextGen is designed to increase ridership based on the increased speed of service and reduced travel times as a result of implementing items from the speed and reliability toolkit. These items include new bus lanes, expanded transit signal priority, all-door boarding, and reinvestment of time savings for increased service frequencies.
Progress on such speed and reliability implementations include 70.1 lane miles of new bus priority lanes implemented or almost completed as of the end of CY 2024 across Metro’s service area, with the Roscoe Bl bus priority lanes to be the latest to be implemented. Updates on upcoming and recent projects are listed below:
Roscoe Boulevard Bus Priority Lanes (Metro Line 152)
In June 2024, LADOT began installing this 21-lane-mile project. This project provides peak-period bus priority lanes on Roscoe Bl between Topanga Canyon Bl and Coldwater Canyon Av. It is the first project to be delivered as part of the North San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor project. Construction was completed in October 2024.
Florence Avenue Bus Priority Lanes (Metro Line 111)
In June 2024, the design was completed for the City of LA portion of the Florence Av Bus Priority Lanes project. The design for the Unincorporated LA County portion is expected to be complete in February 2025. This project will provide 10.2 lane miles of peak-period bus priority lanes in both directions on Florence Av between West Bl and the Florence A Line Station. Concurrent with design, Metro is working to secure construction permits from both the City of LA and LA County. Construction is expected to begin in early 2025.
Vermont Avenue Bus Priority Lanes (Metro Lines 204 & 754)
Metro will deliver quick-build bus priority lanes to key corridor segments ahead of the larger BRT project as part of the Vermont Transit Corridor project. This will bring speed and reliability improvements to the over 36,000 daily weekday riders ahead of the larger project.
The Bus Speed Working Group identified a 5-lane mile northern segment of Vermont Av between Sunset Bl and Wilshire Bl and a 7.5 lane-mile southern segment of Vermont Av between Gage Av and Vermont/Athens C Line Station as quick-build bus lane projects that could be delivered ahead of the BRT improvements on Vermont Av. The proposed bus lanes would be in service full-time along the southern segment and weekday peak periods along the northern segment.
Metro Community Relations staff and Community-Based Organization partners have been conducting briefings and presentations to interested stakeholders, community groups, and neighborhood councils, as well as outreach to businesses along Vermont Ave regarding the overall BRT project and the quick-build bus lanes. The quick-build bus lanes will be delivered as soon as early 2025.
Bus Lane Enforcement
Metro continues to partner with LADOT to have dedicated parking enforcement details patrol and enforce bus lanes in the City of LA. Enforcing the no-parking regulations in the bus lanes helps riders get to their destinations faster and more reliably.
In addition, Metro continues to make progress on the automated Bus Lane Enforcement (BLE) program. Metro has awarded a contract to Hayden AI Technologies to implement the BLE pilot on 100 buses. Half of these buses have been equipped with the BLE hardware, with the second half expected to be complete in FY25 Q1.
Metro is leading the BLE outreach plan in coordination and cooperation with LADOT, and it is underway. The outreach effort will focus on the affected BLE corridors and include some general program informational materials for a wider audience. Metro’s partner agency, LADOT, worked to amend the City’s municipal code to allow citations under the BLE program. The City Council approved these changes in October 2024. A 60-day warning period and outreach effort began on November 1, 2024. A full community engagement plan is being developed. Outreach will be conducted in English, Spanish, and other significant languages where relevant to the communities of focus for the program.
Equity_Platform
EQUITY PLATFORM
The NextGen Bus Plan was developed using an equity methodology, placing more service in Equity Focus Communities, which are historically more transit-dependent. A central goal of the NextGen Bus Plan was to improve transit service frequencies, travel times, and reliability for Metro system riders. Eight in 10 Metro riders are Black, Indigenous, and/or other People of Color (BIPOC); nearly 9 in 10 live in households with total annual earnings below $50,000, and almost 6 in 10 are below the poverty line.
Improvements such as greater off-peak frequencies have helped essential workers and other riders make essential trips, with an increased share of off-peak ridership noted during the height of the pandemic.
This analysis shows that a subsequently greater proportion of increased ridership has occurred among EFC residents since the NextGen changes were implemented with increased frequency of service and speed and reliability enhancements that continue to be implemented. By providing a fast, frequent, reliable network as designed through the NextGen process, the network was designed with a significant focus on serving EFCs to provide these communities with reduced wait times, shorter travel times, and improved access to key destinations.
Staff will continue to monitor ridership in EFC and Non-EFC areas to ensure NextGen benefits for marginalized groups are achieved, ensuring enough service capacity is provided based on ridership, and that all planned NextGen speed and reliability initiatives are implemented with the intended benefits achieved. Staff will also continue to gather rider feedback through the various sources used to gather public input regarding bus service and related adjustments, such as comments received via Metro’s social media channels, Customer Care, and through the Service Council meetings, where service changes are explained and discussed with the public, These channels provide valuable insight into key customer experience concerns of riders.
Vehicle_Miles_Traveled _Outcome
VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED OUTCOME
VMT and VMT per capita in Los Angeles County are lower than national averages, the lowest in the SCAG region, and on the lower end of VMT per capita statewide, with these declining VMT trends due in part to Metro’s significant investment in rail and bus transit.* Metro’s Board-adopted VMT reduction targets align with California’s statewide climate goals, including achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. To ensure continued progress, all Board items are assessed for their potential impact on VMT.
This item supports Metro’s systemwide strategy to reduce VMT through current and planned investments that will improve and further encourage transit ridership, ridesharing, and active transportation. Metro’s Board-adopted VMT reduction targets were designed to build on the success of existing investments, and this item aligns with those objectives.
This item is a vital part of Metro operations, tracking the recovery of Metro bus ridership by region, day type, time of day, and line/line groups. This recovery, in part, represents people returning to transit post-COVID in place of single-occupant auto travel. This ridership information is used to evaluate the effectiveness of the Metro bus service and develop adjustments to improve service, helping further expand the attractiveness of both Metro bus and rail systems as an alternative to single-occupant vehicle travel and to increase Metro transit system ridership. Because the Metro Board has adopted an agency-wide VMT Reduction Target, and this item supports the overall function of the agency, this item is consistent with reducing VMT.
*Based on population estimates from the United States Census and VMT estimates from Caltrans’ Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) data between 2001-2019.
Implementation_of_Strategic_Plan_Goals
IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
The recommendation supports strategic plan goals:
Goal #1: Provide high-quality mobility options that enable people to spend less time traveling. Improving the speed and reliability of the bus network will reduce transit travel times and improve competitiveness with other transportation options.
Goal #2: Deliver outstanding trip experiences for all transportation system users. These initiatives help to move more people within the same street capacity, where currently transit users suffer service delays and reliability issues because of single-occupant drivers.
Goal #3: Enhance communities and lives through mobility and access to opportunity. With faster transit service and improved reliability, residents have increased access to education and employment, with greater confidence that they will reach their destination on time.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
The NextGen Bus Plan network ridership will continue to be monitored through the remainder of 2024 as Metro continues to deliver full service based on the NextGen Bus Plan. The agency will continue to hire new bus operators to remain fully staffed and to reliably deliver full service daily. Metro will continue implementing bus speed and reliability improvements, such as new bus lanes. Another update is planned for the Board in early 2025, tracking the detailed progress on ridership recovery during Q4 CY2024.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - NextGen Ridership Analysis Q3 CY2024
Attachment B - Weekday Ridership Recovery Comparison by Line and Line Group
Attachment C - Saturday Ridership Recovery Comparison by Line and Line Group
Attachment D - Sunday Ridership Recovery Comparison by Line and Line Group
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Joe Forgiarini, Senior Executive Officer, Service Development, (213) 418-3400
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Conan Cheung, Chief Operations Officer, (213) 418-3034
