Are Metro rails ridership numbers reliable?
Counting passengers, fares and fare evaders on Metro light rail remains an inexact discipline — it lies somewhere in the gray zone between science and guesswork. An Arizona Republic review of monthly fare collection reports, inspection reports and thousands of day-by-day automatic passenger counts shows wide variation in the numbers collected and those officially reported every month by Metro. Critics and even some fans of light rail offer conflicting theories. Some think Metro deliberately inflates its ridership figures to justify the light rail program. Some think Metro purposely underreports the number because officials are embarrassed by how few people pay the fare. Metro says it has the most advanced passenger count system in the country, and that system is independent of fare data. The rail agency says month by month it is getting better at tracking riders and fares. Metro developed its system under the direction of the Federal Transit Administration, which has progressively ask
