Starting Monday, Metrorail riders will see wait times drop during peak periods on many lines.
The transit agency says it's increasing service because more people are riding during the morning and afternoon rush. But a lot of people still say they aren’t commuting on a regular basis.
Here's a look at the new wait times between trains during peak periods:
- Red Line: 5 minutes
- Green Line: 6 minutes
- Yellow Line 6 minutes
- Blue, Silver and Orange lines: 10 minutes
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During peak periods in the downtown core, riders shouldn’t have to wait longer than five minutes for the next train to come. Metro says there will now be 60 percent more service on the rails compared to the same time last year.
But are more people really riding?
Transportation
Reporter Adam Tuss and the News4 team are covering you down on the roads and in transit.
Rider Dene Chinn says she isn’t seeing it.
"A lot of the people I know are still working from home," Chinn said. "So I don’t know if that will affect them that much because they're working from home."
Metro is averaging more than 300,000 weekday trips now, still way down from pre-pandemic levels, when more than 600,000 riders were taking trips during weekdays.
General Manager Randy Clarke says more service is a way to build toward higher ridership.
"Bus and rail service is performing very well. Yeah, we’ll have some issues from time to time, but I think most people would acknowledge it’s a much safer, frequent, reliable system than it was," Clarke said. "We’ve hired a lot of people. I think culturally, internally, we are bringing some pride back into the organization."
Another rider, Edwin, is all for shorter wait times — but he says he says safety should also be a focus.
"I know that there have been some pretty violent incidents happen in the not-too-distant past," he said. "So yeah, I think that should be a concern. It is for me."
For now, Metro is hoping for a positive change as it tries to get more riders back.
