1. Los Angeles in its early history had extensive network of street cars Public transport in form of vehicles propelled by electric lines First streetcar in the Los Angeles area began at turn of century – around 1900 At time of start of streetcars Los Angeles city population was roughly 50,000; the county as a whole had 100,000

2. By 1930 city population had risen to 1
By 1930 city population had risen to 1.2 million inhabitants; the county grew to 2.2 million Two types of streetcars in use at the time: yellow cars ran near CBD; red cars ran longer distances At its peak of 1,164 miles, red line represented largest electric railway in world at the time

4. Ridership per capita began to decline as early as the 1920’s
Cars and non-electrified buses had started to be preferred by residents
Total ridership continued to increase for a period only because area was rapidly growing
Last streetcar dismantled in 1963, although streetcar’s role in LA had greatly diminished long before then
Graph of ridership

5. Los Angeles started moving to fixed rail public transportation in 1990’s map Blue Line (opened 1990) - light rail line running between Downtown Los Angeles and Downtown Long Beach. Red Line/Purple Line (opened 1993) - subway line running between Downtown Los Angeles and North Hollywood/Mid-Wilshire. Green Line (opened 1995) - light rail line running between Redondo Beach and Norwalk Gold Line (opened 2003) - light rail line running between East Los Angeles and Azusa via Downtown Los Angeles Expo Line (opened 2012) – light rail line running between Downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica

6. Since late 1980’s the MTA has emphasized rail transport over buses
Rail potentially faster for riders but more expensive and less flexible than buses
MTA began decreasing bus service, increasing bus fares
Bus ridership began to decline until policy stopped by court order in 2004
In settlement MTA agreed not to raise bus fares for 10 years and to add bus service

7. After ten year period lapsed, MTA returned to cutting bus service, increasing bus fares and increased resources to rail
Total bus/rail ridership has fallen over recent years
Thirty years ago, ridership under predecessor to MTA averaged almost 500 million annually (buses only)
In 2006, MTA ridership was roughly 492 million

8. Year Total Bus Rail Rail/Bus 2009 315.056 231.824 83.232 0.359 2010
Annual Ridership (in millions)
Year
Total
Bus
Rail
Rail/Bus
2009
83.232
0.359
2010
95.597
0.267
2011
97.762
0.272
2012
0.302
2013
0.316
2014
0.320
2015

9. Percent Change in Annual Ridership
Year
Total
Bus
Rail
2009 -
2010
44.05%
54.53%
14.86%
2011
0.78%
0.38%
2.27%
2012
2.53%
0.13%
11.37%
2013
1.95%
0.90%
5.43%
2014
-2.83%
-3.10%
-1.96%
2015
-5.09%
-5.14%
-4.94%

10. Median household income of Metro rider is $15,918; the countywide median income is $55,909
Reason for secular decline in ridership partially due to immigration
Los Angeles received bubble of immigrants in 1980’s
Proportion immigrant has declined since then
Immigrants more likely to take public transportation
The longer immigrants stay in country the more their public transportation demands match non-immigrant demands