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Quarterly travel trends: Metrorail rebounds to ~85% of 2019; Omniride surpasses pre‑pandemic levels
Summary
NVTA staff reported that in March Metrorail ridership reached about 85% of pre‑COVID (2019) levels, VRE commuter rail averaged about 58% of 2019 in March/April, and Omniride bus service exceeded 2019 ridership in March and April; park‑and‑ride utilization remains lower than ridership recovery.
The Authority received its quarterly travel trends update on June 12. Staff reported mixed recovery across modes: Metrorail experienced its largest recovery in March at roughly 85% of pre‑pandemic (2019) ridership, while park‑and‑ride utilization averaged about 73% of pre‑COVID levels. VRE commuter rail was at approximately 58% of 2019 levels in March and April, while Omniride bus service exceeded its 2019 ridership for the first time in the report’s series, showing strong growth in March and April.
Staff cautioned the highway traffic sample is drawn from a selected set of permanent counters and may not represent all travel in the region. They also noted an unexpected pattern in time‑of‑day volumes: midday periods showed higher traffic volumes in the sample than evening peak periods and that the team will continue monitoring to determine whether this represents a trend or a sampling anomaly. Staff said they will continue monitoring commute changes tied to federal return‑to‑office guidance and the upcoming Metrobus network changes scheduled to start June 29.
The Authority followed with questions about why Omniride had stronger growth than other commuter services; staff suggested better origin‑destination matching and service flexibility as likely contributors.
