Highest-Ridership Light Rail Systems
US light rail systems ranked by annual unlinked passenger trips. · 2024 report year
This table ranks 22 US light rail operators by annual ridership for 2024. 22 agencies reported light rail service in total, carrying 343 million trips between them.
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority leads at 43.3 million trips.
| # | Agency | Location | Annual trips | Annual trips | Operating expense | Farebox |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority | Los Angeles, CA | 43,287,009 | 43,287,009 | $628 million | 3% |
| 2 | San Diego Metropolitan Transit System | San Diego, CA | 39,649,485 | 39,649,485 | $142 million | 21% |
| 3 | Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority | Boston, MA | 36,668,303 | 36,668,303 | $266 million | 20% |
| 4 | Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority | Seattle, WA | 29,843,190 | 29,843,190 | $330 million | 12% |
| 5 | City and County of San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | 28,230,682 | 28,230,682 | $241 million | 6% |
| 6 | Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon | Portland, OR | 23,393,585 | 23,393,585 | $251 million | 8% |
| 7 | Dallas Area Rapid Transit | Dallas, TX | 22,102,282 | 22,102,282 | $267 million | 6% |
| 8 | New Jersey Transit Corporation | Newark, NJ | 19,738,044 | 19,738,044 | $134 million | 9% |
| 9 | Metro Transit | Minneapolis, MN | 15,489,194 | 15,489,194 | $100 million | 13% |
| 10 | Utah Transit Authority | Salt Lake City, UT | 13,964,839 | 13,964,839 | $105 million | 12% |
| 11 | Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas | Houston, TX | 13,652,169 | 13,652,169 | $103 million | 3% |
| 12 | Denver Regional Transportation District | Denver, CO | 11,161,755 | 11,161,755 | $163 million | 5% |
| 13 | Valley Metro Rail, Inc. | Phoenix, AZ | 10,215,129 | 10,215,129 | $75.1 million | 9% |
| 14 | Sacramento Regional Transit District | Sacramento, CA | 6,783,370 | 6,783,370 | $88.4 million | 8% |
| 15 | Bi-State Development Agency of the Missouri-Illinois Metropolitan District | Saint Louis, MO | 6,752,816 | 6,752,816 | $101 million | 7% |
| 16 | City of Charlotte North Carolina | Charlotte, NC | 5,804,651 | 5,804,651 | $58.6 million | 8% |
| 17 | Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority | San Jose, CA | 4,723,010 | 4,723,010 | $136 million | 4% |
| 18 | Maryland Transit Administration | Baltimore, MD | 4,471,100 | 4,471,100 | $60.7 million | 5% |
| 19 | Pittsburgh Regional Transit | Pittsburgh, PA | 3,397,749 | 3,397,749 | $82.3 million | 3% |
| 20 | Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority | Buffalo, NY | 2,394,940 | 2,394,940 | $32.0 million | 11% |
| 21 | Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads | Hampton, VA | 867,648 | 867,648 | $14.2 million | 6% |
| 22 | The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority | Cleveland, OH | 808,055 | 808,055 | $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
- 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
- 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.