Streetcar update: 63,383 trips in July; ridership down during RNC

Milwaukee’s streetcar system, The Hop, recorded 63,383 trips in July 2024. Streetcar System Manager Andrew Davis-Lockward revealed the number Wednesday morning at a meeting of the Public Works Committee.

The number represents the highest monthly ridership reported this year. However, the number is down 4% from July 2023; that July saw 65,749 rides reported, the highest monthly total since 2019.

So why the dip? Enter the Republican National Convention.

According to Wednesday’s report, ridership was down 28% during the week of the RNC, compared to the same week in 2023. The RNC ran July 15-18.

“So the RNC actually hurt ridership!” said committee chair Alderman Bob Bauman. “Ha!”

“It’s ironic, because that was one of the conditions of the [RNC] contract, that we maintain ridership for The Hop,” added Alderperson Jonathan Brostoff.

Security measures installed prior to the RNC stifled ridership, too, said Davis-Lockward. Ridership during this year’s Bastille Days, which ran July 11-14, was down a total of 22% from 2023.

“Bastille Days is our bread and butter,” Davis-Lockward said. “The festival is right in the middle of the line, and our greatest riderships usually come from that Saturday of Bastille Days. But this year it wasn’t as good as last year. It was mainly on the weekend, Saturday and Sunday, where we saw a decrease of 35%.”

Ridership during the three weekends of Summerfest, however, was up 30% from last year. This was attributed to the recently opened L-Line station, located across from the Summerfest grounds and beneath The Couture.

The Hop’s ridership has been on a slow but steady recovery since the COVID-19 pandemic. Current numbers are 61% of what they were pre-COVID, in 2019. The streetcar system launched in November 2018.

Overall, Bauman and the rest of the committee were pleased with Wednesday’s report.

“This is a good report,” Bauman said. “We do seem to be moving forward.”

Oh yeah: How does The Hop count its rides? According to The Hop’s website:

The Hop streetcars are equipped with Automatic Passenger Counter (APC) equipment to record actual boarding data. Each door on the vehicle is equipped with three sensors that emit a beam of infrared light. Each time the beam is broken the APC system records it as a passenger. The three sensors are spaced so that the order in which the beams are broken determines if a passenger is boarding or exiting—only the boarding totals are included in the final ridership counts. APC systems are becoming standard equipment in the transit industry.

Okay, there’s your streetcar story. Argue in the comments.