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Despite decreased tourist ridership immediately following Sept. 11, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Metrorail set a record, carrying more than 181 million passengers during fiscal year 2002 (July 1, 2001, through June 30, 2002) — a 2.1 percent increase, or nearly 4 million more passengers compared with FY2001.



Last July and August, more than 16 million passengers rode Metrorail trains — only the second and third times in WMATA’s 26-year history its surpassed that mark in a single month.



"After Sept. 11th, our focus shifted to enhancing safety and security of the entire Metro system," said Chief Executive Officer Richard White in a statement prepared July 22. "While our core peak customers continue to use Metro, off-peak discretionary ridership is still below pre-Sept. 11 levels."