Transit Ridership Exceeds 71 Million

An increase of 15 percent over the previous year is a good thing when talking about bus and light rail ridership. Transit ridership, which is measured annually from July to June, indicates that more than 71 million passengers boarded a Valley Metro bus or light rail train to get to work, school, run errands or for pleasure.

“Certainly, in the last six months, overall transit ridership has been boosted by the new METRO light rail service,” said David A. Boggs, Valley Metro RPTA executive director. “We now have a complete transit system with bus and rail connections getting more Valley residents and visitors out of their cars.”  Now offering light rail service, the cities of Mesa, Phoenix and Tempe experienced double-digit increases in transit ridership. Click here for a listing of all city-by-city transit ridership.

Statistics also show that more riders are using bicycles to complete their transit trips, with 1.46 million bikes carried on buses in the past year, an increase of 9.4 percent over 2008.

Annual Ridership
Bus 65,670,807 (2008-09)
Bus 61,866,836 (2007-08)
Light rail 5,580,860 (Jan-June 2009)
Combined 71,251,667 (2008-2009)

Along with an increase in ridership, there also has been an increase in satisfied transit riders. According to a recent rider survey, nearly four in five (79 percent) of transit riders said they are highly likely to be riding transit one year from now and would recommend the service to others.  Nearly 70 percent of riders say they have a high level of satisfaction with transit service in the Valley, and there is a significant increase (5 percent) of those indicating they are “very satisfied” with public transit service. The survey was conducted in May 2009 and has a margin of error at 3.7 percent.

Valley Metro/RPTA provides eco-friendly public transit options to residents of greater Phoenix and Maricopa County, including a clean-fuel bus fleet, low-emissions light rail,  a bio-diesel Dial-a-Ride fleet, online carpool matching and bus trip mapping, and bicycle and telework assistance. Funding is provided by local, state and federal revenues; and administered by a board of 15 governments working to improve and regionalize the public transit system.

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