The Taylor Swift effect on the Los Angeles County economy is well documented. Now you can add the singer’s impact on transit ridership during the six sold-out concerts held earlier this month at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
LA Metro’s rail ridership during Swift concerts on Aug. 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9 jumped 25 percent over same day averages in July, an increase of 150,000 boardings. Metro’s special bus shuttles to SoFi from two different rail line stations added 30,000 more, bringing the total increase in rail and bus boardings to 180,000 during the concert series, LA Metro reported.
Metro also ran trains until 2 a.m. to accommodate those leaving the Swift concerts, which often ended at 11:30 p.m or later. Normally, trains stop running at around midnight.
The ridership numbers beat the previous post-pandemic high that took place shortly after the opening of the new, downtown Regional Connector rail line and three DTLA stations in June.
But it wasn’t just the intimate pop vocal stylings of Swift that pumped up train and bus “event” ridership.
The HARD Summer music festival on Aug. 5 and 6 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and BMO Stadium (formerly Banc of California Stadium) had ridership 50% over regular weekend boardings, adding more than 20,000 customers to the E (Expo) Line train with stations serving the venues at Exposition Park, Metro reported.
dressed in their Sunday’s best for @HARDFEST pic.twitter.com/GPDvuL9RIH
— Metro Los Angeles (@metrolosangeles) August 6, 2023
“We are thrilled ‘Swifties’ and HARD Summer festival-goers chose to take Metro to fuel their passion for music,” said Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins in a prepared statement. “Introducing young people to the benefits of using public transit is a priority for Metro.”
At HARD-fest, concert-goers rode the E Line and exited at one of two nearby stations, no shuttle connections needed. “We saw big numbers right away,” said Stephen Tu, Metro’s senior director…
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