The Washington Post, 5/12/22
Metro ridership rises, but not enough to alter financial projectionsMetro continues to search for ways to increase rail riders, whose fares heavily contribute to the agency’s annual budget
Riders returning to Metro in recent weeks have raised optimism at the transit agency, but the increases are largely occurring on the less-lucrative bus system. Transit officials on Thursday sought ways to similarly re-energize Metrorail in a bid to ease a looming pandemic-induced budget shortfall.
SNIP
Metrorail last week averaged 223,600 daily trips on weekdays, about 35 percent of pre-pandemic levels, while Metrobus averaged 297,600 daily trips, or 88 percent of trips taken before the pandemic. The bus system, which charges lower fares and carries riders who typically have lower incomes and fewer transportation alternatives than rail riders, accounts for about 60 percent of Metro riders.
Metrorail carried almost twice as many passengers as the bus system before the pandemic.