CA: Metro trains and buses fill up for Dodgers celebration — and the rides are full but smooth

Droves of people filled up the Historic Broadway Station at Broadway and 2nd Street in L.A. around 12:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, trying to take E and A trains. The long lines far outpaced an average Saturday afternoon on Metro.

The riders? A sea of Dodgers-jersey-clad revelers fresh from the newly crowned world champions’ victory parade downtown. Late Friday, Metro officials said they needed more time to assess how many people rode their trains and buses, but anecdotal assessments hinted the agency managed the massive crowds with a minimum of turmoil.

An hour after the open-top buses had made the turn at Spring and 1st streets packed with celebratory Dodgers, the streets surrounding the train stop bustled with foot traffic in all directions.

More than 250,000 people descended on L.A., according to LAPD. And while passenger traffic numbers were not yet available, a simple glance showed huge impact on the region’s Metro lines, jammed with people coming and going from all over Southern California.

Already packed trains pulled into the station forcing Dodger fans to get even more friendly to fit. The next several stops, including Union Station and Chinatown stretched the train’s capacity to its limit as more boarded than exited.

On the trip back from the parade, train density on an A train thinned out little by little with each passing stop as the train made its way through L.A. neighborhoods and into Pasadena.

Metro appears to have managed the throngs deftly.

The scene Friday at the parade and on public transit appeared to be all joy without the threat of unruliness, which had overtaken some fans during celebrations on Wednesday, the night the team clinched the championship. A Metro bus was tagged and burned in Echo Park.

Los Angeles police only reported a handful of minor incidents as of Friday afternoon.

Early on Friday, Metro updates came frequently, while noting that station parking lots were full. And after the parade, on X, official were urging people to “enjoy DTLA” a bit with hopes of discouraging crowds from swamping stations on the line.

Not unexpectedly, the day did come with some grumbling. Some commented that Metro should have made rides free for the day. Others complained at the huge crowds at the stops and long lines at fare kiosks.

Metro’s Jose Ubaldo said “We are not going to have all the numbers together today. You have to wait until Monday.”

By mid afternoon, the Dodger Stadium Express Service was still bringing people from the Stadium at this time… The same with the rail service. So, we don’t have final numbers yet,” he said.

Staff writer Steve Scauzillo contributed to this report.

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