Metro Publishes Silver Line’s First Weekday Ridership Totals

Metro's new Silver Line ad campaign claims suburban Virginia's future is bright, thanks to the new service. If recently released ridership statistics are anything to go by, that future is brightest in Wiehle-Reston East.

Metro published the weekday ridership figures for the new Silver Line stations Monday. The figures represent the daily total entries and exits at each station during their first week of service.

Almost 220,000 trips were taken overall and Wiehle-Reston East saw the bulk of those, followed by Tysons Corner.

The new stations opened on Saturday, July 26 and they weathered the first big commute the following Monday. It seems that riders took a few days to warm to the Silver Line, as ridership gradually rose from 30,846 trips on Monday and peaked at 34,364 on Thursday.

Commuters driving from the suburbs of Virginia and connecting to Wiehle-Reston East at the end of the Silver Line likely explain that station's popularity, which peaked on Thursday at 19,616 trips. It was also a busy station during the first Monday commute, attracting 17,225 trips that day.

The improved access to the Tysons Corner shopping centers could be a driving factor in earning Tysons Corner station second place, with a peak of 6,959 trips on Tuesday and figures that almost reached 7,000 every other day.

The stations in Vienna, Greensboro and Spring Hill saw the fewest riders overall, but they are less populous cities than either Reston or McLean where the other stations are. Greensboro peaked on Wednesday at 1,773 trips and Spring Hill peaked on Tuesday at 2,879 trips.