Metro train, bus ridership rises 12% in 2023

Ridership on L.A. Metro trains and buses reached 285 million boardings in 2023, almost a 12% increase from the year before, the transit agency reported on Feb. 12.

The number of people riding public transit last year was the highest since the pandemic, with overall ridership at 77% of pre-pandemic levels.

Metro attributed the jump to several factors, from more safety personnel riding with passengers and being present at train stations, to more leisure riders who use public transit to attend rock concerts, baseball, football and soccer games and other special events to avoid driving in traffic and paying to park.

During the pop singer Taylor Swift concerts Aug. 3-9 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, a rollout of shuttles, more frequent city buses and late-night rail lines running until 2 a.m. resulted in a 25% overall increase in ridership, Metro reported.

“Metro is making the system safer, more welcoming and accessible. The ridership numbers reflect that,” said Los Angeles Mayor and

Metro Board Chair Karen Bass in a prepared statement.

Last year, L.A. Metro began adding safety personnel that consists of Metro Transit Security, private security, 325 Metro Ambassadors plus care teams that help the unhoused find shelter. Metro said its “layered public safety” template is providing a visible presence as well as directly addressing and preventing crime.

Incidents of trespassing, those who don't pay their fare and sleep on the trains, and people who take illegal drugs on platforms and onboard moving trains and buses have dropped by 30% from 2022, the agency reported.

L.A. Metro's Homeless riders who use the trains and buses as mobile shelters — something that has prevented some from riding the system according to surveys — have been the emphasis of 24 multidisciplinary outreach teams. These teams have connected more than 650 people with housing solutions since July, L.A. Metro reported.

Train ridership grew from about 48 million in 2021 to almost 62 million in 2023 — an increase of 14 million rid