Through the first half of 2013, customers have boarded Metro Transit buses and trains 39.9 million times – 312,000 more rides than the same period last year (a 0.8 percent increase).

Year-to-date, Northstar commuter rail ridership is up more than 50,000 or 15.1 percent over 2012 – fueled by a fare adjustment that was made permanent on May 1 and the opening of Ramsey Station in November of 2012. In June, customers boarded Northstar trains an average of 3,058 times per weekday – the first time the 3,000 mark has been surpassed in the line’s history.

Northstar Commuter Rail Average Weekday Ridership

Comparing bus ridership with the same period last year, urban local service is up 279,000 rides (one percent), express service is up 113,000 rides (2.6 percent) and suburban local service has increased by 25,000 rides (3.3 percent).

Ridership on the METRO Blue Line is down 3.1 percent (156,000 rides) compared with the first half of last year. In 2012, ridership on the Blue (Hiawatha) Line was 10.5 million – the highest in the line’s nine years of operation. Despite fewer rides to special events, average weekday ridership on the region’s first light-rail line continues to trend nearly 30 percent ahead of projections for the year 2020.

More than 12,000 People Used Northstar and Blue Line to get to Kenney Chesney Concert in July

Although transit ridership for special events is slightly lower this year compared to last year, recent events show encouraging signs of rebound.  Pre-sale tickets on the Northstar Commuter line set a record with 530 advance ticket sales for the Kenny Chesney concert at Target Field on Friday, July 12.  The previous record had been set just two weeks ago with 466 advance tickets sold for the Twins – Kansas City Royals game on June 30.

In all, more than 2,000 people took the Northstar Line to the Kenney Chesney show. Metro Transit employees counted another 10,000 people who arrived by way of the Blue Line LRT (formerly known as the Hiawatha Line) that runs from the Mall of America to Target Field in downtown Minneapolis.

In addition to its regular weekday rush hour service, Metro Transit offers special Northstar runs for Twins and Vikings games and other special events.  Following the popularity of Northstar for the Kenney Chesney show, Metro Transit plans to run special Northstar Commuter trains for the Skyline Music Festival on July 26. The concert, also at Target Field, features Soul Asylum, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Matthew Sweet and the Gear Daddies. 

Riders can buy Northstar tickets at www.metrotransit.org/northstar. Round-trip tickets begin at $12 from Big Lake, with lower prices from stations in Elk River, Ramsey, Anoka, Coon Rapids and Fridley.  Family passes, which allow two adults and up to three children ages 6 to 17 to ride, are $20 from Big Lake and less from stations closer to Minneapolis.