I thought you guys might be interested to know:
I reached out to UTA to ask for some data for a research paper I am working on right now. They sent back to me dialy ridership numbers for TRAX for Q1-Q3 2014.
Some things that I found interesting in the research is that by the end of Q3 2014, TRAX has already carried more than 1 million more passengers YTD than by the end of Q3 2013, and on pace to hit 20 million rides YTD 2014 for the first time ever.
Q3 2014 approx weekday average was 66.4k, up from 63.8k Q3 2013.
Q3 2014 approx weekend day average was 33.1k. The weekend numbers for Q3 showed a significant increase from previous quarters due to higher ridership on game days, comic con, etc.
January 2014
Total Rides 1,657,300
Daily Average 54,522
Weekday Average 64,782
Weekend Average 26,307
February 2014
Total Rides 1,523,000
Daily Average 53,655
Weekday Average 64,326
Weekend Average 26,977
March 2014
Total Rides 1,664,500
Daily Average 52,888
Weekday Average 64,130
Weekend Average 29,278
April 2014
Total Rides 1,681,700
Daily Average 55,231
Weekday Average 64,115
Weekend Average 30,800
May 2014
Total Rides 1,494,400
Daily Average 48,954
Weekday Average 58,908
Weekend Average 25,728
June 2014
Total Rides 1,528,300
Daily Average 50,067
Weekday Average 59,635
Weekend Average 27,742
July 2014
Total Rides 1,536,694
Daily Average 51,223
Weekday Average 59,674
Weekend Average 27,983
August 2014
Total Rides 1,626,208
Daily Average 52,458
Weekday Average 64,837
Weekend Average 26,463
September 2014
Total Rides 1,877,723
Daily Average 64,749
Weekday Average 74,747
Weekend Average 44,753
2014 Q1
Total Rides 4,844,800
Daily Average 53,688
Weekday Average 65,800
Weekend Average 27,521
2014 Q2
Total Rides 4,704,400
Daily Average 51,417
Weekday Average 61,800
Weekend Average 28,090
2014 Q3
Total Rides 5,040,625
Daily Average 56,144
Weekday Average 66,419
Weekend Average 33,066
Noteworthy ridership days of the year so far:
2/20/2014: 71,107
4/17/2014: 72,978
8/25/2014: 72,241
8/26/2014: 71,120
8/27/2014: 75,004
8/28/2014: 92,101 (I believe this is a UTA record. It was the day of the UofU home game against Idaho State)
September is the most impressive month of the year though...I am honestly blow away by these numbers considering the averages from months previous.
Tu 9/2/2014: 73,715
W 9/3/2014: 74,514
Th 9/4/2014: 86,106
F 9/5/2014: 87,073
Saturday 9/6/2014: 86,077 (more than double the weekend average...incredible.)
Su 9/7/2014: 16,188
M 9/8/2014: 68,753
Tu 9/9/2014: 69,293
W 9/10/2014: 74,689
Th 9/11/2014: 72,620
F 9/12/2014: 69,466
Sa 9/13/2014: 56,499
Su 9/14/2014: 15,966
M 9/15/2014: 70,195
Tu 9/16/2014: 71,729
W 9/17/2014: 75,184
Th 9/18/2014: 79,428
F 9/19/2014: 77,810
Sa 9/20/2014: 49,986
Su 9/21/2014: 14,180
M 9/22/2014: 76,866
Tu 9/23/2014: 73,513
W 9/24/2014: 75,119
Th 9/25/2014: 78,304
F 9/26/2014: 70,967
Sa 9/27/2014: 53,614
Su 9/28/2014: 15,523
M 9/29/2014: 70,229
Tu 9/30/2014: 74,117
If this is what can be expected on TRAX during Q4 2014, then I think it's plausable that TRAX could average 72k trips per weekday, especially since over the last 5 years, Q4 has been the highest ridership months of the year, consistently averaging 4-5k more than Q3 averages.
***Important to note*** When I was doing my research I found there there was a margin of error on the data of about 2% between UTA's raw data that they provided me, and the official data that was ultimately reported in the APTA reports.