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In the year's first half, Phoenix’s Valley Metro posted average ridership gains of 13.5 percent on its METRO light-rail compared with the same period last year.

In June, when ridership usually dips due to the summer heat, METRO registered 942,154 trips, up 15 percent year over year, Valley Metro officials said in a prepared statement.

“What’s unusual here is that 2009 was our inaugural service year and you would suspect that ridership would hit an all-time high and then level off in subsequent years,” said Valley Metro Chief Executive Officer Steve Banta. “But we’re not seeing ridership soften. In fact, just the opposite is occurring.”