Trinity Metro is leading in Texas in regards to recovered ridership levels since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, according to the transportation authority’s President and CEO Richard Andreski. He provided an update on Trinity Metro to Grapevine City Council on May 2.
Background: Trinity Metro is a transportation authority that provides service to the city of Fort Worth and surrounding suburbs of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. Its services include bus; TRE, or Trinity Railway Express; TEXRail; ACCESS, which provides service to those with disabilities; and the rideshare service Zipzone.
Highlights: Andreski cited TEXRail’s ridership levels, upcoming rail extensions and new programs as successes for the transit agency.
- Ridership is 89% recovered compared to February 2020.
- TEXRail sees 74% in annual growth. In four years and a few months, Andreski said TEXRail has carried nearly 2 million people.
- Grapevine’s train station is the second busiest station in Trinity Metro’s system. DFW’s station at Terminal D is No. 1.
- On TEXRail, 23% of riders begin and end their ride in Grapevine.
- 72,000 bikes were rented as part of Fort Worth’s bike share program.
- 98.1% of TEXRail trains were on time in March.
Quote of note: “Ridership declined significantly during COVID[-19], and I’m pleased to say we’re almost back to 100%, and we expect to be back to 100% of our ridership by the end of this year,” Andreski said. “That’s a great and heartening trend.”
