Metro had a 4.2 percent ridership increase compared to 2011, significantly higher than the national average increase for bus systems. Last year, Metro provided almost 17.4 million passenger trips. Including Access service for people with disabilities, Metro provided almost 17.6 million rides total.
In addition, ridership for Metro’s student pass programs at local universities is up significantly. Metro had a 24 percent increase in ridership at the University of Cincinnati and a 19 percent increase at Cincinnati State in 2012, compared to 2011.
Metro’s newest route, Rt. 38X Glenway Crossing-Uptown express, increased ridership by 18 percent in December 2012 compared to the same time in 2011. Rt. 38X serves Metro’s new Glenway Crossing transit center and park-and-ride, providing direct service to UC and many Uptown destinations.
"We're focused on providing a great customer experience and are seeing positive results from improvements we've been making for our customers," Metro CEO Terry Garcia Crews said. "We've upgraded our bus fleet, introduced new fare options, added real-time information at Government Square, improved our website and customer information, and that's just the beginning. In 2013, we're continuing to make Metro easier to ride to better meet the community's needs for transit. This spring, we'll introduce our new transit plan with both short-term and long-term improvements to take Metro to the next level."
National trend in ridership: Metro’s increase is higher than the national trend that shows public transportation ridership increased by 2.6 percent over the first three quarters of 2011, according to a report released by the American Public Transportation Association. More than 7.9 billion trips were taken on U.S. public transportation in the first three quarters of 2012.
