As thousands of visitors made their way to Milwaukee this month to partake in festivals including Harley-Davidson’s Homecoming celebration and Bastille Days, The Hop streetcar saw a sizable surge in ridership, according to new data released this week.
Harley-Davidson said earlier this month its Homecoming celebration brought more than 80,000 people to Milwaukee’s Veterans Park, while Bastille Days attracts approximately 250,000 people each year, according to the East Town Association’s website.
This influx of visitors boosted The Hop ridership to over 18,000 passengers this month.
This week’s data shows The Hop averaged 4,557 riders every day from July 13-July 16. On July 15, the streetcar transported 6,883 passengers – the fourth highest ridership record ever recorded. The July 15 total trails both days of the 2019 Bastille Days festival, as well as The Hop’s grand opening weekend.
“The strong ridership numbers from last weekend are further evidence that The Hop is delivering on its promise to contribute to a more vibrant and accessible downtown community,” said Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson. “Part of what makes weekends like these so important is that a lot of new riders are introduced to the benefits of convenient and accessible transit, and that will go a long way towards not only turning new riders into repeat riders but also bolstering our broader efforts to support transit and build safer streets.”
As of June 30, The Hop has recorded 27 consecutive months of year-over-year ridership increases, with the 50,293 passengers in June representing approximately 70% of the pre-COVID ridership from June 2019. Since the service first began in 2018, The Hop has surpassed 2 million riders.
