Related: BART, Caltrain Break All Ridership Records With Giants Parade Crowds
Giants fans in San Francisco for the World Series championship celebration Wednesday who traveled on the San Francisco Municipal Railway caused a surge in ridership not seen in more than two decades, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
About 240,000 additional customers boarded Muni buses and trains to attend the parade and ceremony, and the SFMTA said those numbers rival those seen during the 1988 and 1989 San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl festivities.
Muni deployed a fleet of at least six additional trains in the underground subway system to transport black-and-orange clad fans to the midday fete at Civic Center Plaza, according to the SFMTA, which operates Muni.
SFMTA Executive Director and CEO Nathaniel Ford said that Muni strives to move people “safely and at regular intervals” and that the agency was “proud to have stepped up to that role” for baseball fans.
Other regional transit agencies also saw record ridership numbers Wednesday thanks to the victory celebration.
Fans began boarding inbound N-Judah trains as early at 6:30 a.m. to secure a viewing spot along the parade route for the confetti-doused procession that began at 11 a.m.
The estimates of increased ridership were culled by monitoring fluctuations along several key transportation corridors–such as Geary Boulevard and Mission, California, and Potrero streets–in addition to the six Metro lines, according to the SFMTA.
BART carried 522,200 riders, shattering its previous record of 442,100 people set during an unplanned closure of the Bay Bridge on Oct. 29, 2009, agency officials said Thursday.
Caltrain ridership Wednesday was nearly twice its weekday average of 40,000, with 30,000 more passengers riding the rails to San Francisco, according to a Caltrain spokeswoman.
Patricia Decker, Bay City News
