Muni recorded just over 600,000 trips on Wednesday, according to Parisa Safarzadeh, director of communications for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. That figure surpassed the previous post-pandemic single-day record, set just last month, by more than 10,000 trips.

"Valkyries fever is very real," Safarzadeh said. "Given ridership is usually lower in November than it is in October, seeing such a big day in November is pretty noteworthy to us."

BART also set a single-day post-pandemic record, providing over 260,000 trips on Wednesday. The agency reported significant upticks at Embarcadero and Montgomery stations, both located near the start of the parade route. The previous record was set on October 6 with over 254,000 trips.

The ridership milestone comes less than a day after voters in several Bay Area counties approved two tax measures that avert significant service cuts at BART, Muni, and other regional transit agencies. The measures, known as RTM and Prop H, were carried to victory in the November 3 election.

Bay Area sports fans have repeatedly driven recent ridership gains. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority broke an all-time special event ridership record when World Cup matches came to Levi's Stadium. BART noted in a press release that six of its ten highest ridership days have been championship parades, and the agency has even attributed ridership bumps to star players like the Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani.

While ridership has been steadily improving across the region since the COVID-19 pandemic, agencies are still carrying fewer riders than before shelter-in-place orders and the rise of remote work. BART has notched monthly year-over-year weekday ridership increases of over 10% this year, but overall weekday ridership remains slightly above half of pre-pandemic levels. The agency has cited remote work as the cause of "unprecedented ridership changes."

Muni's recovery has been more robust. The agency reported that overall ridership in September was about 84% of pre-pandemic levels, with weekend ridership reaching 99%. Safarzadeh said Muni has seen its 16 highest ridership days since August, and that ridership on the Valkyries' parade day was more than double what it was in 2022, when the Golden State Warriors held their NBA championship parade.

The Valkyries' WNBA title and the ensuing celebration have provided a much-needed lift for a transit system still working to rebuild ridership after the pandemic upended commuting patterns. For a region that has struggled with remote work's impact on public transportation, the parade offered a vivid reminder of the system's capacity to move large crowds—and the role major events can play in bringing riders back.