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The tourism drop following the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., seriously impacted Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s ridership. But recent reports suggest WMATA’s record ridership during the Cherry Blossom Festival in April was more than a blip on the radar screen.



On July 17, Metrorail trains logged 704,396 trips — the seventh highest weekday ridership in the agency’s history, and the highest ever for a day without any major events that might have inflated ridership numbers.



The day before, WMATA recorded 693,131 passenger trips marking its 17th highest ridership day. The last time Metrorail trains carried more than 700,000 passengers on a weekday without a special event was June 20, 2001.