Measure description
Average weekday boardings represents the number of passengers carried on San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s (SFMTA) motor buses, trolley buses, and light rail. It is an indicator of transit ridership demand in the City.
Why this measure is important
Reporting on Muni ridership provides the public, elected officials, and City staff with a current snapshot of SFMTA’s progress in reaching its Climate Action Plan goal of having at least 80% of all San Francisco trips be low-carbon trips, or trips by transit, walking, bicycling, electric vehicles and vehicles with three or more people by 2030. Additionally, increasing Muni ridership helps reduce traffic congestion, which improves public safety. Ridership is also an indicator of citywide and regional economic activity, as well as accessibility to residents and visitors.
The interactive chart below presents the City’s Average Muni Ridership.
Muni average weekday boardings
Chart description
- Y-axis: Average number of riders, in millions
- X-axis: Months in the fiscal year
How SFMTA is Performing
A boarding represents one customer riding one transit vehicle. If a customer transfers to a second vehicle while their trip is in progress, two boardings will be counted.
The measure is calculated by dividing the total number of daily boardings a month by the number of weekdays days for the month.
Ridership is highly seasonal. School schedules, work patterns, and holidays all contribute to the seasonality of ridership patterns, which tend to be highest in the Fall and Spring and lowest in the Winter. Ridership is also responsive to transit fares, levels of service, and the overall economic climate.
SFMTA sets its ridership target annually. Ridership numbers above the target is a desirable trend for the City.
Average weekday boardings allows for a direct comparison to other months and years, regardless of the total number of weekdays in a month. Monthly figures are estimates based primarily on automatic passenger counter data, faregate information, revenue collected, and peak load measurements. Peak-load measurements are in-person counts conducted at the busiest stop along each route. Ridership data is collected over the course of the year. Figures are finalized at the end of each fiscal year, which typically includes revising monthly numbers due to data collection schedules.
Total annual boardings represent the total boardings that occur over the course of the year. This metric accounts for the total number of weekdays, Saturdays, and Sundays throughout the year. This includes holidays during which Muni provides Saturday or Sunday service. This metric provides a more complete picture of an entire year.
The number displayed on the scorecard page represents the most recent data from the first chart above.
How performance is measured
A boarding represents one customer riding one transit vehicle. If a customer transfers to a second vehicle while their trip is in progress, two boardings will be counted.
Average weekday boardings allows for a direct comparison to other months and years, regardless of the total number of weekdays in a month. Monthly figures are estimates based primarily on automatic passenger counter data, faregate information, revenue collected, and peak load measurements. Peak-load measurements are in-person counts conducted at the busiest stop along each route. Ridership data is collected over the course of the year. Figures are finalized at the end of each fiscal year, which typically includes revising monthly numbers due to data collection schedules.
Total annual boardings represent the total boardings that occur over the course of the year. This metric accounts for the total number of weekdays, Saturdays, and Sundays throughout the year. This include holidays during which Muni provides Saturday or Sunday service. This metric provides a more complete picture of an entire year.
The number displayed on the scorecard page represents represents the most recent data from the first chart above.
Additional information
- View this metric and others on the SFMTA’s website.
- See the SFMTA’s 2023 Annual Report.
- See the SFMTA’s Strategic Plan Progress Reports.
Data
All ridership data come from SFMTA’s Performance Portal. Ridership data are reported with a one-month lag. For example, August’s data will be available at the end of September.
City Performance Scorecards
This page is part of the City Performance Scorecards.