Women’s ridership down on L.A. Metro, and satisfaction with buses, trains falls
If you’ve ever traveled by Metro in Los Angeles, you’ve probably noticed a peculiar phenomenon: The service ridership has been steadily falling since 2012, with the exception of single-family trips, and particularly during the holiday period.
This fall, it fell even more.
According to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, women’s ridership on Metro fell 11.2 percent between January and September — a period when the agency launched dozens of new, and previously unavailable, service on an all-female line known as the Blue Line Extension — the second-largest drop of any line on the system (in 2016, it fell 9.7 percent).
On the other end of the spectrum, ridership for men actually rose this fall, to 956,000, from 953,000 in September 2016. The trend line, however, shows no signs of slowing down.
As in previous years, there are several theories for why this trend is taking place and, ultimately, which transit agencies — and cities — might be facing the hardest challenges in this area.
One is that women-only trips are becoming more common, which would suggest that demand for service is rising to meet that demand. It’s also possible that women-only trips, and single-person trips generally, become less popular over time as cities see the negative effects that women and children face on the commute.
Whatever the reason, one thing is clear: The trend in declines in women’s ridership will continue, even if it does not continue as rapidly as it has in past years.
Meanwhile, a separate, somewhat surprising trend stands out on the ridership data: Metro’s satisfaction with bus and trains has fallen.
As its ridership dropped between January and September, riders’ satisfaction with bus and train service actually fell more than the ridership did — 5 percent versus an 8 percent drop.
According to Metro, transit