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Municipality of Anchorage

Anchorage, AK · NTD ID 00012 · 2024 report year

Annual trips3.4 million #147 in the US
Operating expense$42.3 million 2024, as reported
Cost per rider$12.30 all modes combined
Farebox recovery13.9% fares ÷ operating cost

Municipality of Anchorage carries 3.4 million passenger trips a year across three modes — bus, vanpool and demand response — making it the 147th-busiest transit operator in the United States, and the largest in Alaska. It is based in Anchorage, AK.

It spends $42.3 million a year running that service, or $12.30 per trip. Its bus service, the largest of its modes, costs $11.13 per rider — 20% below the $13.86 median for the 1,162 US agencies reporting bus.

Over the 10 years reported, ridership remains 8% below its 2019 level, the last full year before the pandemic, and up 10% on 2023. Fares cover 14% of operating cost.

Service by mode, 2024

ModeAnnual tripsOperating expense Cost per ridervs national median FareboxVehicles
Bus#122 of 1,162 nationally 3,044,346 $33.9 million $11.13 -20% 10% 40
Vanpool#28 of 113 nationally 227,371 $1.2 million $5.46 -23% 135% 103
Demand Response#151 of 1,920 nationally 168,815 $7.2 million $42.75 +12% 14% 43

Ridership, 2015–2024

3.8 million 1.9 million 2024 2015
YearAnnual trips Operating expense (2024 $)Cost per rider (2024 $)
2024 3,440,532 $42.3 million $12.30
2023 3,117,877 $40.2 million $12.88
2022 2,731,671 $40.6 million $14.85
2021 2,193,906 $41.9 million $19.08
2020 1,934,220 $39.9 million $20.60
2019 3,750,404 $40.5 million $10.81
2018 3,566,747 $39.2 million $11.00
2017 3,615,649 $38.1 million $10.55
2016 3,817,733 $39.7 million $10.41
2015 3,808,313 $39.1 million $10.26

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Source & method. Figures are from the Federal Transit Administration's National Transit Database (NTD) annual reporting for 2024, the most recent published report year. Cost per rider is operating expense divided by unlinked passenger trips. Farebox recovery is fare revenue divided by operating expense. Ten-year trends are adjusted for inflation to 2024 dollars; single-year figures are as reported. Agencies self-report to the NTD, and reporting practice varies, so figures are best read as comparable in magnitude rather than to the cent.