Figures are out and ridership on the Green Line averaged 27,805 per day during the first week of service. A total of 139,027 rides were provided on the new light-rail line that runs from Union Depot in downtown St. Paul and Target Field in downtown Minneapolis.
The Met Council projected that daily ridership would hit 27,500 by 2015 on weekdays with 40,000 weekday boardings projected by 2030.
Service on the Green Line began on June 14 and fares were collected starting June 16.
During the first week of operation, the most boardings were at the Nicollet Mall Station in Minneapolis with 9 percent followed by the East Bank (9 percent), Snelling Avenue (7 percent) and Central in downtown St. Paul (7 percent).
"We are very encouraged to see initial ridership running at 2015 projections during these early summer days," said Brian Lamb, Metro Transit General Manager. "We'll have a clearer sense of everyday use when the University of Minnesota and other schools along the light-rail line resume classes in the fall."
Service on bus route 50 was replaced by the Green Line, and trips were reduced on routes 16 and 94. Bus ridership on these three duplicative routes in the Central Corridor service area dropped an average of about 15,000 rides per weekday during the first week of Green Line operations.
Including 107,039 free rides taken during opening weekend, the Green Line has provided a total of 246,066 rides since opening at 10 a.m. on June 14, the Met Council said.
