Metro - File #: 2026-0362

• File #: 2026-0362
• Type: Informational Report
• Status: Agenda Ready
• File created: 5/7/2026
• In control: Operations, Safety, and Customer Experience Committee
• On agenda: 7/16/2026
• Title: RECEIVE AND FILE status update on NextGen Bus Ridership.
• Sponsors: System Safety, Security and Operations Committee
• Indexes: Bus rapid transit, Bus Speed Improvements, Construction, Florence, GoPass, Informational Report, Las Virgenes/Malibu subregion, Low-Income Fare is Easy (LIFE), Malibu, Metro Rail A Line, NextGen Bus Study, Outreach, Peak periods, Plan, Ridership, San Fernando, San Fernando Valley Service Sector, San Fernando Valley subregion, San Gabriel, South Bay Cities subregion, South Bay Service Sector, Strategic planning, Transit buses, Travel time, Trip length, Video, Volume, Westside/Central Service Sector

Meeting_Body
OPERATIONS, SAFETY, AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE COMMITTEE
JULY 16, 2026

Subject
SUBJECT: NEXTGEN RIDERSHIP UPDATE - Q1 CY2026

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 first quarter (January, February, March) of calendar year 2026, compared to the same Q1 CY2025. Ridership changes are examined by day type (weekday, Saturday, Sunday), service area, Equity Focus Communities (EFCs) and non-EFCs, time period, line/line group, as well as 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 was to be rolled out in two phases: "Reconnect" and "Transit First."
* "Reconnect" is the initial phase to restructure the existing network and was implemented over three dates: December 2020, June 2021, and December 2021.
* "Transit First" is an additional phase to maximize the plan's effectiveness through strategic, quick-build capital investments in improved bus speeds and direct revenue service hours (RSHs) saved on bus frequency improvements.
* After ridership peaked in late 2024/early 2025, since June 2025, ridership has shown a reduction compared to the previous year; this appears to be linked to federal immigration enforcement actions that began in that month

The NextGen Bus Plan Reconnect phase implementation established a set of service frequency tiers for Metro's 117 bus lines, summarized in Table 1.

Table 1: NextGen Frequency Tiers as of March 2026


When fully implemented, the "Transit First" scenario was expected to achieve a 15-20% ridership increase resulting from increased speed of service/reduced travel times after implementing speed and reliability items including new bus lanes and expanded transit signal priority, with ...