Highest-Ridership Demand-Response (Paratransit) Services
US demand-response and paratransit operations ranked by annual unlinked passenger trips. · 2024 report year
This table ranks 40 US demand response operators by annual ridership for 2024. 1,920 agencies reported demand response service in total, carrying 140 million trips between them.
Access Services leads at 4.2 million trips.
| # | Agency | Location | Annual trips | Annual trips | Operating expense | Farebox |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Access Services | El Monte, CA | 4,167,464 | 4,167,464 | $248 million | 4% |
| 2 | Pace, the Suburban Bus Division of the Regional Transportation Authority | Arlington Heights, IL | 3,215,055 | 3,215,055 | $220 million | 4% |
| 3 | Maryland Transit Administration | Baltimore, MD | 2,939,453 | 2,939,453 | $189 million | 0% |
| 4 | MTA New York City Transit | Brooklyn, NY | 2,828,231 | 2,828,231 | $272 million | 2% |
| 5 | Metropolitan Council | Saint Paul, MN | 2,220,041 | 2,220,041 | $120 million | 5% |
| 6 | Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas | Houston, TX | 2,054,787 | 2,054,787 | $110 million | 2% |
| 7 | Dallas Area Rapid Transit | Dallas, TX | 1,727,107 | 1,727,107 | $70.2 million | 6% |
| 8 | County of Miami-Dade | Miami, FL | 1,554,913 | 1,554,913 | $64.8 million | 7% |
| 9 | Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada | Las Vegas, NV | 1,511,043 | 1,511,043 | $88.3 million | 4% |
| 10 | VIA Metropolitan Transit | San Antonio, TX | 1,441,732 | 1,441,732 | $54.4 million | 3% |
| 11 | Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority | Washington, DC | 1,396,962 | 1,396,962 | $189 million | 2% |
| 12 | New Jersey Transit Corporation | Newark, NJ | 1,390,414 | 1,390,414 | $159 million | 2% |
| 13 | City and County of Honolulu | Honolulu, HI | 1,198,262 | 1,198,262 | $69.7 million | 2% |
| 14 | Orange County Transportation Authority | Orange, CA | 1,192,236 | 1,192,236 | $82.5 million | 8% |
| 15 | King County | Seattle, WA | 1,156,915 | 1,156,915 | $102 million | 1% |
| 16 | Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority | Austin, TX | 1,089,647 | 1,089,647 | $80.3 million | 1% |
| 17 | Broward County Board of County Commissioners | Fort Lauderdale, FL | 1,048,353 | 1,048,353 | $48.0 million | 1% |
| 18 | Board of County Commissioners, Palm Beach County | West Palm Beach, FL | 1,024,336 | 1,024,336 | $61.0 million | 5% |
| 19 | Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority | Boston, MA | 960,871 | 960,871 | $155 million | 2% |
| 20 | Pittsburgh Regional Transit | Pittsburgh, PA | 945,351 | 945,351 | $38.7 million | 25% |
| 21 | Utah Transit Authority | Salt Lake City, UT | 935,854 | 935,854 | $45.4 million | 2% |
| 22 | Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority | Philadelphia, PA | 907,546 | 907,546 | $64.5 million | 9% |
| 23 | OATS, Inc. | Columbia, MO | 905,120 | 905,120 | $35.6 million | 11% |
| 24 | Denton County Transportation Authority | Lewisville, TX | 900,288 | 900,288 | $16.7 million | 9% |
| 25 | Delaware Transit Corporation | Dover, DE | 885,589 | 885,589 | $59.1 million | 7% |
| 26 | Susquehanna Regional Transportation Authority | Harrisburg, PA | 793,979 | 793,979 | $31.1 million | 56% |
| 27 | Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority | Los Angeles, CA | 762,757 | 762,757 | $24.7 million | 2% |
| 28 | Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority | Atlanta, GA | 759,097 | 759,097 | $74.6 million | 1% |
| 29 | Denver Regional Transportation District | Denver, CO | 757,130 | 757,130 | $78.4 million | 3% |
| 30 | Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority | Orlando, FL | 721,216 | 721,216 | $43.5 million | 7% |
| 31 | City of Arlington | Arlington, TX | 677,253 | 677,253 | $11.8 million | 15% |
| 32 | Suffolk County | Yaphank, NY | 667,641 | 667,641 | $42.1 million | 6% |
| 33 | The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority | Cleveland, OH | 661,142 | 661,142 | $45.6 million | 3% |
| 34 | Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon | Portland, OR | 639,576 | 639,576 | $60.0 million | 15% |
| 35 | KI BOIS Community Action Foundation, Inc. | Stigler, OK | 623,101 | 623,101 | $11.6 million | 5% |
| 36 | Bi-State Development Agency of the Missouri-Illinois Metropolitan District | Saint Louis, MO | 610,502 | 610,502 | $30.6 million | 3% |
| 37 | Kansas City Area Transportation Authority | Kansas City, MO | 609,354 | 609,354 | $26.1 million | 4% |
| 38 | Montachusett Regional Transit Authority | Fitchburg, MA | 591,768 | 591,768 | $22.7 million | 11% |
| 39 | Sacramento Regional Transit District | Sacramento, CA | 551,744 | 551,744 | $39.1 million | 4% |
| 40 | Sarasota County | Sarasota, FL | 542,403 | 542,403 | $13.8 million | 8% |
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
- Cheapest Bus Systems by Cost per Rider 40 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
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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.