Despite a looming debt and budget gap, and several recent train breakdowns, MBTA ridership increased nine out of 12 months this year.
Including the last eight months in a row, according to an MBTA spokesman.
Specifically, the MBTA is touting it’s increased ridership on the SilverLine, which sky-rocketed during weekend hours in the last six months, according to a spokesperson.
Ridership went up 60 percent on Saturdays and nearly 15 percent on Sundays.
Even the weekday commuter use saw a slight jump in riders going up nearly 6 percent.
The T is considering increasing services staring in December, if money permits, by adding buses and operators at varying times to accommodate the uptick in commuters.
MBTA Highlights
– Fourth quarter ridership increased by 4.6 percent, compared to the same time last year, and totaled 1.3 million unlinked passenger trips per weekday.
– Fiscal 2011 system-wide ridership increased by 2.1 percent.
– Fiscal 2011 ridership for heavy rail increased by 4.8 percent over FY10 and totaled 155 million unlinked passenger trips for the year
– Weekend ridership went up with the average Saturday and Sunday subway ridership at their highest levels since the CharlieCard system was implemented in 2007.
-The fastest growing line was the Orange Line, and the Red Line had substantial growth as well.
– Orange Line weekend ridership increased after SPTO (Single Person Train Operation) was implemented in June 2010.
*According to the MBTA
