The D.C. region’s upcoming cherry-blossom season is expected to give Metro another boost as it continues a post-Covid rebound.
“If all goes to plan, we’re hoping for our first combined one-million-trip day since the onset of the pandemic,” Paul Smedberg, first vice president of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), said on Thursday (March 6).
Smedberg was speaking at the monthly Northern Virginia Transportation Commission board meeting, and came prepared with largely good news related to the transit system.
The ridership rebound has reached the 46-month mark, leading WMATA to expect a brighter budget picture in the fiscal year beginning in July.
“We’ve seen really strong ridership and revenue growth,” Smedberg said.
That growth is likely to accelerate now that the Trump administration has imposed a return-to-work directive on many federal government employees, though the impacts of mass layoffs are still taking shape.
Cherry blossom season typically brings hordes of local residents and tourists to the Tidal Basin in D.C. Because parking is so tight there, many opt to take Metro.
The National Park Service is projecting that trees around the Tidal Basin will reach peak bloom this year — when 70% of the Yoshino cherry blossoms are open — around March 28-31.
The actual dates are weather-dependent. Over the past century, peak dates have ranged from as early as March 15 (in 1990) and as late as April 18 (1958).
The cherry trees that bloom each spring were gifted to the U.S. by the Japanese people in 1912. They’re the descendants of trees found in Tokyo, a city that would be devastated during World War II. In 1952, the National Park Service provided budwood from its stock to help restore the original grove in the Japanese capital.
Metro ridership typically peaks in spring and fall. In 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, high-performing days resulted in more than 700,000 rail trips and about 400,000 bus journeys daily.
The pandemic changed all that, but ridership was up 12% year-over-year in 2024, with 128 million rail journeys and 123 million bus trips.
The system’s all-time busiest day came on Jan. 20, 2009, when there were 1.12 million rail trips and 423,000 bus journeys, most owing to the inauguration of Barack Obama.
Beyond the cherry blossoms, regional leaders are anticipating large numbers of visitors to the region for the WorldPride festival, which will be held in D.C. for the first time from May 17 through June 9. Next year should also bring visitors to the capital as the nation celebrates its 250th birthday.
Del. Paul Krizek (D-16), who represents southeastern Fairfax County and serves on the NVTC board, urged Metro leaders to make the most of that latter opportunity.
“I remember the Bicentennial [in 1976] and the cool Metro cards,” he said, suggesting that transit officials start “the hoopla” around the celebration now.
Smedberg said Metro’s preparations have begun with “a whole team” working on it.
