The Cities Blog

Green Line ridership up during second week

greenline_map_web_050114
Courtesy of Metro Transit

The new light rail Green Line between Minneapolis and St. Paul saw a 16 percent jump in riders during its second week of operation.

According to preliminary numbers, last week 32,368 people boarded Green Line trains each weekday. That's 4,500 more people than rode each weekday during the previous week, and well ahead of Metro Transit's projections.

The Nicollet Mall station continues to be the most popular place to board the train in Minneapolis, with Central Station leading in St. Paul.

Ridership was up across the board for all the St. Paul stations.

In Minneapolis, the Warehouse and Target Field stations saw fewer riders in week two. That could have something to do with the Minnesota Twins. The team had two weekday home games during the line's first week, but none last week.

Here are the boardings by station for the line's second week:

Nicollet Mall -- 10.02%

East Bank -- 8.55%

Central -- 8.18%

Downtown East -- 6.81%

Snelling Ave -- 6.51%

Union Depot -- 4.86%

Warehouse -- 4.57%

Government Plaza -- 4.30%

Dale St -- 4.28%

Hamline Ave -- 4.17%

West Bank -- 3.99%

Target Field -- 3.88%

Lexington Pkwy -- 3.57%

Capitol & Rice St -- 3.55%

Stadium Village -- 3.37%

Fairview Ave -- 3.14%

10th St -- 3.02%

Raymond Ave -- 2.84%

Westgate -- 2.61%

Western Ave -- 2.41%

Victoria St -- 2.13%

Robert St -- 1.86%

Prospect Park -- 1.38%

Disclosure: Minnesota Public Radio and the Metropolitan Council are negotiating ways to reduce noise and vibrations from the newly built light rail line outside MPR headquarters under a contract agreed to in 2009.