A dose of Monday Night Football helped set a new single-day light rail ridership record on Monday, Oct. 3.
There were a combined 122,529 rides on the METRO Green and Blue lines on that day, surpassing the previous single-day light-rail ridership record of 117,063 rides set on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016.
The Oct. 3 total includes 66,018 Green Line rides – also a single-day record – and another 56,511 Blue Line rides.
Ridership got a boost on Sept. 1 from fans traveling to Twins, Vikings, Gophers and Saints games. On Oct. 3, the Vikings played the New York Giants at the new U.S. Bank Stadium.
Around a quarter of Vikings fans are taking light rail to games this season.
The Green Line is finding success outside of special events, too.
Average weekday ridership in September was 46,109, the highest monthly average since the Green Line opened in June 2014. The average weekday projection for 2030 was 41,000 rides on the Green Line.
There were just over 1.2 million Green Line rides in September, the third highest monthly total since service began (there were 1.3 million rides in October 2015 and 1.25 million rides in September 2015).
There have been 9.4 million Green Line rides through the end of September, up almost 5 percent compared to the same time last year.
Learn more about service to U.S. Bank Stadium at metrotransit.org/vikings.