Cheapest Bus Systems by Cost per Rider
Large US bus operators ranked by operating cost per passenger trip, cheapest first. · 2024 report year
This table ranks 40 US bus operators by cost per rider for 2024, limited to systems carrying at least 5.0 million trips a year so that a very small operator cannot top the list on a handful of rides. 1,162 agencies reported bus service in total, carrying 3.66 billion trips between them.
Anaheim Transportation Network runs the cheapest bus service on this list at $1.94 per rider, against $8.71 at Regional Transit Service — a spread of 4.5×. The national median for bus is $13.86 per rider.
A high cost per rider is not by itself a sign of waste: a system covering long distances, running at low density, or carrying fewer riders than the service it operates was built for will show a higher figure than a dense, heavily used one. The number is a starting point for a question, not the answer to it.
| # | Agency | Location | Cost per rider | Annual trips | Operating expense | Farebox |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anaheim Transportation Network | Anaheim, CA | $1.94 | 8,578,126 | $16.7 million | 65% |
| 2 | Capital Area Transportation Authority | Lansing, MI | $4.48 | 8,474,506 | $38.0 million | 18% |
| 3 | Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District | Urbana, IL | $4.56 | 9,388,395 | $42.8 million | 16% |
| 4 | Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada | Las Vegas, NV | $4.64 | 52,203,687 | $242 million | 24% |
| 5 | City of Tucson | Tucson, AZ | $4.66 | 15,792,573 | $73.7 million | 12% |
| 6 | City of Durham | Durham, NC | $4.79 | 6,377,416 | $30.5 million | — |
| 7 | City of Gainesville, FL | Gainesville, FL | $4.90 | 5,481,555 | $26.8 million | 60% |
| 8 | MTA New York City Transit | Brooklyn, NY | $5.36 | 647,859,171 | $3.47 billion | 16% |
| 9 | Milwaukee County | Milwaukee, WI | $5.86 | 25,300,648 | $148 million | 15% |
| 10 | City and County of Honolulu | Honolulu, HI | $5.96 | 41,052,559 | $245 million | 19% |
| 11 | Chicago Transit Authority | Chicago, IL | $5.96 | 181,733,617 | $1.08 billion | 18% |
| 12 | San Diego Metropolitan Transit System | San Diego, CA | $6.17 | 35,613,514 | $220 million | 19% |
| 13 | City of Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | $6.28 | 14,512,714 | $91.2 million | 0% |
| 14 | Capital District Transportation Authority | Albany, NY | $6.29 | 15,918,164 | $100 million | 20% |
| 15 | Pioneer Valley Transit Authority | Springfield, MA | $6.30 | 7,830,329 | $49.3 million | 10% |
| 16 | Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority | Los Angeles, CA | $6.44 | 229,710,972 | $1.48 billion | 7% |
| 17 | Interurban Transit Partnership | Grand Rapids, MI | $6.48 | 5,765,508 | $37.4 million | 19% |
| 18 | City and County of San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | $6.59 | 77,857,337 | $513 million | 8% |
| 19 | Long Beach Transit | Long Beach, CA | $6.59 | 18,481,114 | $122 million | 8% |
| 20 | Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County | Reno, NV | $6.62 | 5,290,863 | $35.0 million | 10% |
| 21 | Greater Richmond Transit Company | Richmond, VA | $6.64 | 8,780,975 | $58.3 million | 1% |
| 22 | County of Nassau | Mineola, NY | $6.74 | 21,787,293 | $147 million | 23% |
| 23 | County of Miami-Dade | Miami, FL | $6.77 | 64,081,459 | $434 million | 12% |
| 24 | City of Madison | Madison, WI | $6.94 | 8,649,646 | $60.1 million | 13% |
| 25 | Westchester County | White Plains, NY | $6.99 | 24,343,996 | $170 million | 15% |
| 26 | City of Alexandria | Alexandria, VA | $7.04 | 5,310,995 | $37.4 million | — |
| 27 | VIA Metropolitan Transit | San Antonio, TX | $7.14 | 28,947,825 | $207 million | 7% |
| 28 | City of Fresno | Fresno, CA | $7.14 | 9,606,251 | $68.6 million | 7% |
| 29 | Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority | Philadelphia, PA | $7.20 | 105,093,533 | $756 million | 16% |
| 30 | Orange County Transportation Authority | Orange, CA | $7.22 | 34,960,054 | $252 million | 11% |
| 31 | Broward County Board of County Commissioners | Fort Lauderdale, FL | $7.27 | 24,206,791 | $176 million | 14% |
| 32 | Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority | Boston, MA | $7.60 | 88,822,890 | $675 million | 11% |
| 33 | MTA Bus Company | New York, NY | $7.69 | 126,616,665 | $974 million | 19% |
| 34 | Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority | Tampa, FL | $8.14 | 11,308,431 | $92.0 million | 9% |
| 35 | Kansas City Area Transportation Authority | Kansas City, MO | $8.31 | 10,967,160 | $91.1 million | — |
| 36 | City of Detroit | Detroit, MI | $8.53 | 12,857,631 | $110 million | 7% |
| 37 | Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority | Buffalo, NY | $8.54 | 12,866,609 | $110 million | 21% |
| 38 | Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority | Orlando, FL | $8.59 | 18,217,346 | $156 million | 12% |
| 39 | New Orleans Regional Transit Authority | New Orleans, LA | $8.65 | 9,526,069 | $82.4 million | 10% |
| 40 | Regional Transit Service | Rochester, NY | $8.71 | 9,763,311 | $85.0 million | 20% |
Other rankings
- Cheapest Heavy Rail Systems by Cost per Rider 16 systems
- Most Expensive Heavy Rail Systems by Cost per Rider 16 systems
- Highest-Ridership Heavy Rail Systems 16 systems
- Best Farebox Recovery Among Heavy Rail Systems 16 systems
- Cheapest Light Rail Systems by Cost per Rider 22 systems
- Most Expensive Light Rail Systems by Cost per Rider 22 systems
- Highest-Ridership Light Rail Systems 22 systems
- Cheapest Commuter Rail Systems by Cost per Rider 24 systems
- Most Expensive Commuter Rail Systems by Cost per Rider 24 systems
- Highest-Ridership Commuter Rail Systems 27 systems
- Best Farebox Recovery Among Commuter Rail Systems 24 systems
- Most Expensive Bus Systems by Cost per Rider 40 systems
- Highest-Ridership Bus Agencies 40 systems
- Best Farebox Recovery Among Large Bus Systems 40 systems
- Highest-Ridership Bus Rapid Transit Systems 20 systems
- Highest-Ridership Streetcar Systems 25 systems
- Highest-Ridership Ferry Systems 39 systems
- Most Expensive Demand-Response (Paratransit) Services by Cost per Rider 40 systems
- Highest-Ridership Demand-Response (Paratransit) Services 40 systems
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Open this in Ask NTD →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. This table is limited to systems carrying at least 5.0 million trips a year.