Metro ridership has dropped on both the train system and bus lines since the June 22 crash, prompting questions about whether the deadly train accident may have undermined rider confidence in the system while leaving lasting budget implications on the financially strapped agency.
Metrorail ridership dropped 2.3 percent in July compared with the same time last year, according to Metro statistics, after a long period of booming ridership.
“We don’t know at this point if it’s the incident or the economy, with people taking fewer vacations,” Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said earlier this month.
Bus ridership
2008
2009
Change
June
11,445,491
11,257,867
-1.6%
July
12,131,090
11,628,386
-4.1%
Rail ridership
2008
2009
Change
June
19,729,641
20,066,919
+1.7%
July
21,017,166
20,541,380
-2.3%
Source: Metro
Compared with a year earlier, bus ridership dropped even more, falling 4 percent in July.
The bus system was possibly propped up by Red Line riders opting for buses instead of slow-moving trains delayed by the crash aftermath. Metro officials say they have seen an increase in ridership on the Georgia Avenue and 16th Street bus lines after the June 22 train crash that killed nine people and injured more than 70 people.
“We promoted those routes as alternatives to the Red Line immediately following the accident and during the subsequent investigation,” spokeswoman Angela Gates wrote in an e-mail. “Ridership continues to remain high on those routes.”
But the rest of the rail system has faced delays as officials grapple with safety concerns on other track circuits in the wake of the crash. Some riders have said they can no longer count on the trains to get them to work on time, opting for cars or buses instead.
Still, it’s too early to know if the change in ridership is solely related to the crash. Last summer, the transit agency hit multiple new ridership highs as drivers ditched their vehicles when gasoline prices spiked. But job losses and cheaper fuel may have turned some riders away from the transit system since then.
Metro debuted the Next Bus service July 1, which shows riders when the next bus is slated to arrive. The agency has been trying to find ways to convince more riders to take the bus as the rail system has been growing closer to capacity.
It’s also too early to know how the ridership declines will affect Metro’s coffers, as fewer passengers means less money in fares coming into the agency. Metrobus and rail had been expecting ridership to grow by at least 3 percent for the current fiscal year.
