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Light-rail ridership stays on track
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Ridership of the Valley’s light-rail system in March totaled nearly 973,000 – the highest monthly total since trains began running.
Since revenue service began on Jan. 1, more than 2.7 million people have boarded.
March’s average weekday ridership was 34,376, Metro announced Monday. That is a drop of 2.5 percent from February, but about 32 percent above the agency’s projection of 26,000 boardings.
Metro chief executive officer Rick Simonetta said a possible explanation for the month-to-month drop is that Arizona State University, which has two campuses on the 20-mile line, had spring break last month.
Saturday ridership also dipped in March, down 9.1 percent to 28,500. But boardings on Sundays and holidays rose to 20,500, a 6.7-percent increase.
Metro said it will soon release detailed reports of boardings by station for the first three months of 2009. But officials have said Mesa’s Sycamore station is the busiest.
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