In giddy anticipation of their one-year anniversary, TransLink sent out an updated count of their ridership this morning. Not too surprising to anyone who rides the line regularly, which seems to be packed at all times and is particularly jammed with suitcase-toting people heading out to the airport at all hours.

Figures released by TransLink today show average weekday ridership exceeded 104,000 for three months in a row.  In May, an average 104,682 people rode the Canada Line every Monday through Friday.  In June, it hit 106,320 per day and July’s total was 107,198.  Daily averages (for all seven days a week) were 94,223, 97,969 and 99,210 for the same three months.

Original ridership projections forecast that the line would reach an average 100,000 passengers every day, including weekends, by 2013.  According to TransLink’s CEO Ian Jarvis, should this strong ridership trend continue we will easily beat the targets set when the line was approved the annual breakeven point will be reached earlier than 2025 as originally projected. The business case for the Canada line assumed that the additional system revenues it generated plus the savings from bus runs that it replaced would cover the operating and TransLink capital contribution over the 30 year agreement. .