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A quarter of Vikings fans take Green Line to the game

Nearly 25 percent of fans who went to the Vikings' two regular season home games took the Green Line to the game.

By Tim Harlow

October 6, 2014 at 4:25PM

Nearly 25 percent of fans who went to the Vikings' two regular season home games took the Green Line to the game.

According to Metro Transit, 12,780 fans took the new light-rail line to TCF Bank Stadium for the Vikings vs. New England game on Sept. 14 and 12,737 did so on Sept. 28 when the team hosted Atlanta.

In both cases, that represented 24 percent of all fans who went to the game. Metro Transit says each fan counts as two rides - there and back.

Meanwhile, a scant 10 percent of fans who attended the Gophers' home game on Aug. 28 against Eastern Illinois used the Green Line. Only 9 percent did so for the Sept. 20 home game against San Jose State, according to Metro Transit.

This weekend, Oct. 11 and 12, both the Gophers and Vikings have home games. Here are the numbers provided by Metro Transit.

Game

Date

Fans who rode to game*

Percent of attendance

Gophers

Aug. 28

4,557

10

Vikings

Sept. 14

12,780

24

Gophers

Sept. 20

4,139

9

Vikings

Sept. 28

12,737

24

Meanwhile, ridership along the 11-mile line from downtown St. Paul to downtown Minneapolis continues to soar. From Sept. 2-19, the average weekday ridership was 37,835. That is well above the 2014 projection of 26,638 riders and the 27,529 riders projected for 2015, said Metro Transit spokesman Drew Kerr.

From Sept. 2-19, the East Bank Station had the highest weekday ridership with an average of 5,093 rides. The U's West Bank station had the fourth highest ridership on the lin ewith 2,445 rides. The stop at Stadium Village has 1,733 riders.

In comparison, the highest number of weekday boardings on the Blue Line during the same period was at Terminal 2-Humphrey with an average of 3,041.

about the writer

Tim Harlow

Reporter

Tim Harlow covers traffic and transportation issues in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and likes to get out of the office, even during rush hour. He also covers the suburbs in northern Hennepin and all of Anoka counties, plus breaking news and weather.