Busiest U.S. Heavy Rail and Light Rail Systems: Q2 2014

fflint · #1 Posted **Sep 29, 2014, 11:13 PM**

The newest APTA Quarterly Ridership Report is out! Here are the busiest heavy and light rail systems in the United States, by agency:

US Heavy Rail Agencies*
Average weekday ridership:

01. New York (MTA) - 9,006,700
02. Washington - 968,200
03. Chicago - 765,000
04. Boston - 581,900
05. San Francisco - 432,700
06. Philadelphia - 319,000
07. Jersey City (PATH) - 255,600
08. Atlanta - 221,700
09. Los Angeles - 147,900
10. Miami - 72,700
11. Baltimore - 48,800
12. San Juan - 39,100
13. Lindenwold (Patco Speedline) - 35,300
14. New York (Staten Island Railway) 26,200

*Cleveland did not provide APTA with weekday ridership statistics; my best guesstimate for Cleveland's daily ridership, based on the reported quarterly ridership total, is around 25,000.

20 Busiest US Light Rail Agencies*
Average weekday ridership:

01. San Francisco - 223,200
02. Boston - 222,000
03. Los Angeles - 198,800
04. Portland - 123,200
05. San Diego - 120,100
06. Philadelphia - 105,500
07. Dallas - 93,200
08. St. Louis - 69,800
09. Salt Lake City - 61,800
10. Denver - 58,100
11. Sacramento - 46,300
12. Houston - 43,900
13. Phoenix - 41,800
14. Seattle (Sound Transit) - 37,200
15. San Jose - 35,600
16. Minneapolis - 34,300
17. Pittsburgh - 28,600
18. Baltimore - 24,900
19. New Orleans - 20,600
20 Charlotte - 16,500

*Newark (NJT) did not provide APTA with weekday ridership stats; my best guesstimate for NJT average weekday ridership, based on the quarterly ridership totals, is around 80,000. That would rank NJT at #8 in the nation.

electricron · #2 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 12:46 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by fflint

Here are the busiest heavy and light rail systems in the United States, by agency:

US Heavy Rail Agencies*
Average weekday ridership:

01. New York (MTA) - 9,006,700
02. Washington - 968,200
03. Chicago - 765,000
04. Boston - 581,900
05. San Francisco - 432,700
06. Philadelphia - 319,000
07. Jersey City (PATH) - 255,600
08. Atlanta - 221,700
09. Los Angeles - 147,900
10. Miami - 72,700
11. Baltimore - 48,800
12. San Juan - 39,100
13. Lindenwold (Patco Speedline) - 35,300
14. New York (Staten Island Railway) 26,200

20 Busiest US Light Rail Agencies*
Average weekday ridership:

01. San Francisco - 223,200
02. Boston - 222,000
03. Los Angeles - 198,800
04. Portland - 123,200
05. San Diego - 120,100
06. Philadelphia - 105,500
07. Dallas - 93,200
08. St. Louis - 69,800
09. Salt Lake City - 61,800
10. Denver - 58,100
11. Sacramento - 46,300
12. Houston - 43,900
13. Phoenix - 41,800
14. Seattle (Sound Transit) - 37,200
15. San Jose - 35,600
16. Minneapolis - 34,300
17. Pittsburgh - 28,600
18. Baltimore - 24,900
19. New Orleans - 20,600
20 Charlotte - 16,500

Nice report. Does anyone know why Baltimore's rail data is reported under Heavy vs Light rail?

Baltimore train leaving Baltimore Street station

Public Domain - Jfruh - Own work

From my perspective, Baltimore's local rail system is light rail. It uses light rail vehicles, overhead catenary at 600-700 VDC, and partially runs in dedicated lanes on city streets. If that isn't a definition of light rail, what is?

Bassic Lab · #3 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 1:17 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by electricron

Nice report. Does anyone know why Baltimore's rail data is reported under Heavy vs Light rail?

From my perspective, Baltimore's local rail system is light rail. It uses light rail vehicles, overhead catenary at 600-700 VDC, and partially runs in dedicated lanes on city streets. If that isn't a definition of light rail, what is?

Baltimore is in both lists since it has two lines, one of which is an LRT and one of which is a subway.

Eightball · #4 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 2:11 AM**

Is there any doubt LA will take the top LRT spot once Expo Phase 2 opens?

MUNI central Ave subway will be high ridership but it opens 3 years later, and the Regional Connector will be coming out around then.

fflint · #5 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 2:39 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by electricron

Nice report. Does anyone know why Baltimore's rail data is reported under Heavy vs Light rail?

From my perspective, Baltimore's local rail system is light rail. It uses light rail vehicles, overhead catenary at 600-700 VDC, and partially runs in dedicated lanes on city streets. If that isn't a definition of light rail, what is?

As noted, Baltimore has both light rail and heavy rail.

Here's a photo of a metro train in Baltimore:

source

Leo the Dog · #6 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 2:44 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eightball

Is there any doubt LA will take the top LRT spot once Expo Phase 2 opens?

MUNI central Ave subway will be high ridership but it opens 3 years later, and the Regional Connector will be coming out around then.

LA should shoot right up there.

San Diego will pass up Portland once Mid-Coast extension serving UCSD opens in a few years.

GreaterMontréal · #7 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 2:47 AM**

Montréal
Heavy Rail Agencies (STM) - 1,153,000

rds70 · #8 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 3:08 AM**

Wow!!

They really screwed up Denver's light rail numbers in this report. The actual number is somewhere around 81,000 per weekday, not 58,000.

Just look at the 1st quarter 2014 report for comparison:

http://www.apta.com/resources/statis...rship-APTA.pdf

fflint · #9 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 4:09 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leo the Dog

LA should shoot right up there.

It's possible. LA's light rail ridership increased with the opening of the first phase of the Expo Line, and we can certainly expect an increase upon the opening of the second phase. But it's not at all clear if ridership will rise enough to best Boston's or San Francisco's ridership.

Quote:

San Diego will pass up Portland once Mid-Coast extension serving UCSD opens in a few years.

We'll see. Portland will also be adding riders when it opens its new Orange Line next year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rds70

Wow!!

They really screwed up Denver's light rail numbers in this report. The actual number is somewhere around 81,000 per weekday, not 58,000.

Just look at the 1st quarter 2014 report for comparison:

http://www.apta.com/resources/statis...rship-APTA.pdf

I noticed the drop. Remember, APTA compiles the report but the local agencies are the ones furnishing the numbers.

rawocd · #10 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 4:33 AM**

Is this the first time SF has been above Boston in Light Rail ridership? It looks like sf had gains and Boston had losses, but I can't remember any time that Muni Metro was busier than the Green Line.

Makes you wonder if double berthing & the reinstatement of the S is having an impact on ridership.

fflint · #11 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 4:36 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rawocd

Is this the first time SF has been above Boston in Light Rail ridership? It looks like sf had gains and Boston had losses, but I can't remember any time that Muni Metro was busier than the Green Line.

Makes you wonder if double berthing & the reinstatement of the S is having an impact on ridership.

Yes, Muni beat out the MBTA last quarter as well. That said, the current difference is so small that these two systems really have the same ridership.

ssiguy · #12 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 4:39 AM**

They did screw something up.

Under the Canadian stats they have Brandon Manitoba as having 700k daily passengers...........Brandon's population is only about 45,000.

Perklol · #13 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 5:06 AM**

Wow look at #1 in that list!

MSP · #14 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 11:48 AM**

Minneapolis should have a big jump on the next list. The green line which opened in June is already getting over 40,000 ridership per weekday.

electricron · #15 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 12:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by fflint

As noted, Baltimore has both light rail and heavy rail.

Here's a photo of a metro train in Baltimore:

source

Thanks!

blackcat23 · #16 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 3:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eightball

Is there any doubt LA will take the top LRT spot once Expo Phase 2 opens?

MUNI central Ave subway will be high ridership but it opens 3 years later, and the Regional Connector will be coming out around then.

Seems very likely. Expo Phase II is projected to add another 33,000 in ridership, which would more than bridge the current gap between LACMTA and Muni/MBTA.

The Crenshaw Line, Foothills Extension and Regional Connector will also add to that total.

Leo the Dog · #17 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 4:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rawocd

Is this the first time SF has been above Boston in Light Rail ridership? It looks like sf had gains and Boston had losses, but I can't remember any time that Muni Metro was busier than the Green Line.

Makes you wonder if double berthing & the reinstatement of the S is having an impact on ridership.

Boston is expanding the green line north of Lechmere into Medford. This should create a nice bump once that goes online in a few years.

I hope that one day the T reinstates E-Line service to Jamaica Plain.

bobg · #18 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 5:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rds70

Wow!!

They really screwed up Denver's light rail numbers in this report. The actual number is somewhere around 81,000 per weekday, not 58,000.

Just look at the 1st quarter 2014 report for comparison:

http://www.apta.com/resources/statis...rship-APTA.pdf

Agreed, something seems way off with APTA's (compiling) or RTD's (reporting) numbers on Denver's light rail. RTD LRT is reporting an increase from the last quarter in overall ridership from 6,182,100 in Q1 to 6,464,400 in Q2 (up 4.56%) but there's a substantial decrease in average weekday ridership from 81.8 in q1 to 58.1 in q2 (down 28.97%) which doesn't seem right. Maybe it was supposed to be 85.1?

dgreen · #19 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 5:37 PM**

Where's Norfolk?

bobg · #20 Posted **Sep 30, 2014, 6:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dgreen

Where's Norfolk?

It's under Hampton Roads Transit