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Total April ridership at Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority broke records and grew 4.2 percent compared with April 2001, but still lagged behind budgeted projections, the agency announced May 16.



April marked the fourth time in the agency’s 26-year history that it has logged more than 16 million passenger trips in a single month.



WMATA also recorded four days in which ridership exceeded 700,000: April 15, Metrorail trains carried more than 718,747 passengers (due in part to the Pro-Israel Rally at the U.S. Capitol); April 2, 714,601 (which was during the National Cherry Blossom Festival); April 4, 711,442; and April 5, 704,517.



Although WMATA’s average weekday ridership for April 2002 (666,164 trips per day) was 15,000 more than last April’s, ridership still was down 1.3 percent from budgeted projections. Overall monthly ridership was off 2.3 percent, and average weekend ridership, 9.1 percent.