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

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

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

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

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

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

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 315.056 231.824 83.232 0.359 2010 453.826 358.229 95.597 0.267 2011 457.367 359.605 97.762 0.272 2012 468.955 360.076 108.879 0.302 2013 478.110 363.319 114.790 0.316 2014 464.593 352.058 112.535 0.320 2015 440.946 333.971 106.975

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%

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