A Direct Ridership Model (DRM) for predicting Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) patronage in Southern California is estimated. Attributes of bus stops and their surroundings constitute the data
observations of the DRM, enabling a fairly fine?resolution of analysis to be carried out on factors that influence ridership. The best?fitting DRM revealed that service frequency strongly
influences BRT patronage in Los Angeles County. High intermodal connectivity, with both feeder bus routes and rail?transit services, also significantly induces BRT travel. Population
densities also contribute to BRT patronage and in the case of exclusive?lane BRT services, higher employment densities further increase higher daily boardings. The strong statistical fit of the model bodes well for DRM as a platform for estimating BRT patronage in coming years.