ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico’s only commuter rail line has marked another year of shrinking ridership.
A report released Monday by the Legislative Finance Committee shows there were more than three-quarters of a million trips taken during the last fiscal year. That’s 37 percent below the peak of 1.2 million during the 2010 fiscal year.
Ridership has declined every year since, with the last fiscal year marking the lowest level since service was extended to Santa Fe in late 2008.
The report says each passenger trip cost $34 in 2017. Fares covered just 8 percent of that, with federal grants and gross receipts tax revenues making up the rest.
A project of former Gov. Bill Richardson, the train began operating in 2006.
The most common reasons given for not riding the train include inconvenient schedules and long travel times.
