Hop Ridership Surges During Busy Festival Weekend

Milwaukee – Ridership of The Hop, presented by Potawatomi Casino Hotel, surged during a busy festival weekend as Milwaukee’s Bastille Days Festival and the H-D Homecoming Festival brought thousands of visitors downtown. The Hop averaged 4,557 riders per day from July 13-16, including 6,883 passengers on Saturday, July 15. That stands as the fourth-highest ridership day on record for The Hop, trailing only July 12-13, 2019, during the last pre-COVID Bastille Days, and Nov. 3, 2018, during the streetcar’s “Grand Hop-ening” 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,” Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said. “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.”

While the pandemic had a significant impact on public transit ridership, both here in Milwaukee and throughout the country, The Hop continues to steadily regain the pre-pandemic momentum that saw streetcar ridership outpacing pre-launch projections. 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. According to data compiled by the American Public Transportation Association, that 70% rebound is perfectly in line with the national average as well as with other similar-sized cities (https://transitapp.com/APTA).

Earlier this spring, The Hop surpassed the 2,000,000-rider mark since the system launched on Nov. 2, 2018. Complete ridership data for The Hop is available online at https://thehopmke.com/ridership/.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.