During the pandemic, MTS experienced a steep decline in ridership as hundreds of thousands of San Diegans stayed home, the agency noted. Since that time, ridership has continued to rebound year after year due in part to the agency’s efforts to “attract more riders by adding more service, increasing Trolley service frequency and bolstering security,” MTS said. “These efforts have resulted in strong customer satisfaction and high community value ratings from riders. The annual ridership growth marks a major post-pandemic milestone for MTS, with annual boardings now at 95.1% of the pre-pandemic peak in fiscal year 2019 (85,357,495 trips),” according to the agency.
In October 2024, MTS logged 7,720,681 passenger trips, the highest ridership month in the fiscal year. During a week in the same month, the agency reported an average of 281,972 passengers per day, the highest week on record since the onset of the pandemic.
“Surpassing 80 million trips shows that more San Diegans are choosing transit than ever before,” said Stephen Whitburn, MTS Board Chair and San Diego City Councilmember. “It’s a testament to the investments we’ve made in reliability, safety, and service quality—and to the dedicated MTS team that works every day to keep our region moving.”
“We’ve recovered more than 95% of our pre-pandemic ridership, which speaks volumes about the trust our riders place in MTS and the value of public transit in San Diego,” said MTS CEO Sharon Cooney. “This milestone shows just how far we’ve come since the pandemic’s lowest point, and we’ll continue building on that momentum to reach even more riders in the years ahead.”
