ABQ RIDE reports higher ridership after system upgrades

The City of Albuquerque reported that ABQ RIDE ridership increased in fiscal year 2026 after system upgrades and increased service. Albuquerque Rapid Transit, or ART, recorded 2,455,059 riders, according to the city’s July 17 announcement.

The ART figure was 6.5% higher than the prior 12-month comparison period used in the city’s fiscal-year analysis. The city presented the increase as part of a broader rise in transit use during the fiscal year.

What the city reported

The reported count applies specifically to Albuquerque Rapid Transit. ART is the transit service identified in the announcement, and the 2,455,059 figure is the specific ridership total provided in the available material.

The city attributed the reported gains to system upgrades and increased service. Its release characterized the changes as making rides less burdensome for passengers, but the supplied material does not provide a full itemized list of the upgrades or service changes referenced in the announcement.

The announcement also included a graphic comparing total passenger travel distance with a trip from Los Angeles to New York. The graphic was part of the city’s presentation of the fiscal-year ridership update.

What the figures do and do not show

The ART total offers a measurable update on use of a major component of Albuquerque’s transit system following the changes described by the city. For riders and transit planners, the 6.5% increase provides a comparison with the prior 12-month period selected for the city’s fiscal-year analysis.

However, the available source material does not provide a complete systemwide ABQ RIDE ridership total. It also does not include route-by-route results, so the reported ART increase should not be read as evidence that every ABQ RIDE route gained riders.

Likewise, the city’s statement attributes the gains to upgrades and increased service, but the release is not an independent audit and does not establish that any single upgrade alone caused the increase. The information provided also does not establish a longer-term ridership trend beyond the stated fiscal-year comparison.

What comes next

The July 17 city release did not identify a future implementation step, public meeting or deadline. It did not provide a full systemwide total or further details about planned service changes in the supplied material.