American Light Rail Systems by Ridership
This list of United States light rail and streetcar ridership statistics indicates that success or failure of rail transit systems may not be based off of traditional density and urban area population statistics.
The following is a list of all light rail systems in the United States, ranked by ridership. Also included are those urban streetcar (tram) systems that are providing regular public transit service (operating year-round and at least five days/week), except for Portland Streetcar, whose ridership numbers are not given by this article's primary data source.
All figures are average weekday unlinked (i.e. line transfers register as separate trips) passenger trips and come from the American Public Transit Association's Ridership Reports Statistics, unless otherwise noted. Dates are given for all figures; the most recent available are used.
Those systems marked with an asterisk (*) are integrated with a heavy rail rapid transit system. Systems marked with an double asterisk (**) are integrated with a commuter rail. Numbers given here represent ridership on light rail lines only; integration into multi-modal transportation systems generally increases ridership.
San Francisco
1. 237,700 - Boston - MBTA Green Line, Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line * and **
2. 186,200 - San Francisco - Muni Metro, F/Market Line and Muni Cable Cars
3. 142,100 - Los Angeles - Metro Rail Blue, Green and Gold Lines * and **
4. 112,400 - Portland - Max Light Rail **
5. 94,800 - Philadelphia - SEPTA Subway-Surface Lines, Suburban Trolley Lines and Girard Avenue Trolley*
6. 93,100 - San Diego - San Diego Trolley **
San Diego's Trolley
7. 63,200 - Dallas - DART: Red, Green & Blue Lines, MATA Streetcar **
8. 61,800 - Denver - RTD, The Ride Light Rail
9. 57,800 - St. Louis - MetroLink
10. 56,800 - Sacramento - Regional Transit District LRT
11. 45,200 - Salt Lake City - UTA TRAX **
12. 38,200 - Jersey City - Hudson-Bergen Light Rail *
13. 34,600 - Baltimore - Baltimore Light Rail * and **
14. 33,500 - Phoenix - METRO Light Rail
15. 33,200 - San Jose - Santa Clara VTA Light Rail **
16. 32,300 - Minneapolis - Hiawatha Line **
17. 31,100 - Houston - METRORail
18. 25,200 - Pittsburgh - The T
Pittsburgh's The T
19. 22,300 - Buffalo - Buffalo Metro Rail
20. 20,000 - Charlotte - LYNX Rapid Transit Services
21. 19,050 - Newark - Newark Light Rail *
22. 14,852 - Seattle - Link Light Rail **
23. 10,700 - New Orleans - RTA Streetcars
24. 10,630 - Portland - Portland Streetcar
25. 8,900 - Cleveland - The Rapid Blue and Green Lines *
Cleveland RTA
26. 7,900 - Trenton/Camden - River Line *
27. 7,200 - Oceanside - Sprinter **
28. 4,100 - Memphis - RTA Trolley
29. 3,200 - Tacoma - Tacoma Link **
30. 1,700 - Seattle - South Lake Union Streetcar
31. 700 - Tampa - TECO Line Streetcar
32. 340 - Little Rock - River Rail Streetcar
Litte Rock River Rail Streetcar
33. 200 - Kenosha - Kenosha Transit
34. 0 - Galveston - Galveston Island Trolley (currently shut down due to damage from Hurrican Ike)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_light_rail_systems_by_ridership
All figures are average weekday unlinked (i.e. line transfers register as separate trips) passenger trips and come from the American Public Transit Association's Ridership Reports Statistics, unless otherwise noted. Dates are given for all figures; the most recent available are used.
Those systems marked with an asterisk (*) are integrated with a heavy rail rapid transit system. Systems marked with an double asterisk (**) are integrated with a commuter rail. Numbers given here represent ridership on light rail lines only; integration into multi-modal transportation systems generally increases ridership.
San Francisco
1. 237,700 - Boston - MBTA Green Line, Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line * and **
2. 186,200 - San Francisco - Muni Metro, F/Market Line and Muni Cable Cars
3. 142,100 - Los Angeles - Metro Rail Blue, Green and Gold Lines * and **
4. 112,400 - Portland - Max Light Rail **
5. 94,800 - Philadelphia - SEPTA Subway-Surface Lines, Suburban Trolley Lines and Girard Avenue Trolley*
6. 93,100 - San Diego - San Diego Trolley **
San Diego's Trolley
7. 63,200 - Dallas - DART: Red, Green & Blue Lines, MATA Streetcar **
8. 61,800 - Denver - RTD, The Ride Light Rail
9. 57,800 - St. Louis - MetroLink
10. 56,800 - Sacramento - Regional Transit District LRT
11. 45,200 - Salt Lake City - UTA TRAX **
12. 38,200 - Jersey City - Hudson-Bergen Light Rail *
13. 34,600 - Baltimore - Baltimore Light Rail * and **
14. 33,500 - Phoenix - METRO Light Rail
15. 33,200 - San Jose - Santa Clara VTA Light Rail **
16. 32,300 - Minneapolis - Hiawatha Line **
17. 31,100 - Houston - METRORail
18. 25,200 - Pittsburgh - The T
Pittsburgh's The T
19. 22,300 - Buffalo - Buffalo Metro Rail
20. 20,000 - Charlotte - LYNX Rapid Transit Services
21. 19,050 - Newark - Newark Light Rail *
22. 14,852 - Seattle - Link Light Rail **
23. 10,700 - New Orleans - RTA Streetcars
24. 10,630 - Portland - Portland Streetcar
25. 8,900 - Cleveland - The Rapid Blue and Green Lines *
Cleveland RTA
26. 7,900 - Trenton/Camden - River Line *
27. 7,200 - Oceanside - Sprinter **
28. 4,100 - Memphis - RTA Trolley
29. 3,200 - Tacoma - Tacoma Link **
30. 1,700 - Seattle - South Lake Union Streetcar
31. 700 - Tampa - TECO Line Streetcar
32. 340 - Little Rock - River Rail Streetcar
Litte Rock River Rail Streetcar
33. 200 - Kenosha - Kenosha Transit
34. 0 - Galveston - Galveston Island Trolley (currently shut down due to damage from Hurrican Ike)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_light_rail_systems_by_ridership