Metro News Release
For immediate release: June 21, 2007
Metrorail Records Eighth Highest Weekday Ridership In its 31-Year History
795,208 Riders Used Metrorail on Wednesday, June 20
Hundreds of thousands of people yesterday helped Metro set the transit agency’s eighth highest ridership day in the history of the 31-year-old rail system. Riders took 795,208 trips, which were 25,567 more trips than the same day last year. Continued high gas prices, an influx of visitors to the region and a Washington Nationals baseball game all contributed to yesterday’s high numbers.
Today, Metro is joining more than 90 public transportation systems throughout the country for the second annual National Dump the Pump Day. Sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association, National Dump the Pump Day encourages people to ride public transit and remind them how taking the bus or train improves the environment and conserves gasoline. Washington-area residents are encouraged to use public transit and leave their vehicles at home.
“Public transit is the best way to beat the high gasoline prices and traffic congestion, and it helps the environment, particularly our air quality,” said Metro General Manager John Catoe, who estimates that he uses Metrobus and Metrorail 97 percent of the time he travels in the region. Combined with Metrobus ridership, Metro provides more than 1.2 million trips on an average weekday.
Metrorail’s Top 10 Weekday Ridership Days
Date Ridership Event
1 06-09-04 850,636 Reagan State Funeral
2 04-03-07 831,508 Cherry Blossoms/Baseball
3 04-10-06 821,283 Immigrant Rights Rally
4 01-20-93 811,257 Clinton Inaugural #1
5 03-31-06 808,108 Cherry Blossoms
6 10-16-95 804,146 Million Man March
7 06-06-07 796,087 Baseball
8 06-20-07 795,208 Baseball
9 06-07-07 793,392 Baseball
10 06-13-07 789,247 No event
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News release issued at 12:00 am, June 21, 2007.