Valley Metro's light-rail service sets Saturday ridership record

Valley Metro set a light-rail ridership record for a Saturday with 58,408 boardings on Dec. 7.

The number of boardings also was the service's fourth highest ridership to date, agency officials said in a press release.

Officials attributed the ridership activity to special events such as the Arizona State University Pac 12 Championship football game, Tempe Festival of the Arts, APS Electric Light Parade and the Beyoncé concert at the U.S. Airways Center.

An average Saturday ridership in December 2012 was 33,964 boardings. The agency's all-time highest ridership number was 65,088 boardings, recorded on Oct. 18, 2012, they said.