Fitchburg staff presents stop-level ridership data showing stable system totals, wide route variation

City staff presented a stop-level review of Metro Transit ridership at the Transportation & Transit Commission meeting on Oct. 1, showing stable aggregate boardings from January 2025 through July 2026 but large differences between individual routes. Ross, the city staff presenter, said the data are now based on video monitors rather than occasional manual surveys and that August 2026 counts are already posted on the city site.

"Our ridership is highly variable through the year," Ross said, noting that totals are lower in winter and higher in summer but that some routes moved substantially up or down in per-stop counts. He identified Route B as the city’s highest-ridership route and highlighted Route 65’s strong per-hour performance despite limited hours. Commissioners discussed pairing northbound and southbound stops for analysis, shelter placement, benches and trash receptacles as priorities and the challenge of reconciling paired stops that appear as separate locations in the raw data.

Ross told the commission the city’s top-10 stops already include shelters at eight locations, and he proposed focusing amenities on the highest-boardings stops to encourage further use. Commissioners said the new granularity—boardings and alightings by stop and time of day—offers a stronger basis for decisions about shelters, stop amenities and route adjustments.

The presentation and supporting Excel files are available on fitchburgwi.gov; commissioners agreed to revisit ridership data ahead of major decision points and to schedule an annual system review when full-year data are available.