Most Expensive Bus Systems by Cost per Rider
Large US bus operators ranked by operating cost per passenger trip, most expensive 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.
Spokane Transit Authority runs the cheapest bus service on this list at $9.34 per rider, against $20.02 at Snohomish County Public Transportation Benefit Area Corporation — a spread of 2.1×. 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 | Snohomish County Public Transportation Benefit Area Corporation | Everett, WA | $20.02 | 7,101,368 | $142 million | 4% |
| 2 | San Mateo County Transit District | San Carlos, CA | $18.93 | 9,991,507 | $189 million | 6% |
| 3 | Jacksonville Transportation Authority | Jacksonville, FL | $17.98 | 6,332,097 | $114 million | 6% |
| 4 | Indianapolis and Marion County Public Transportation | Indianapolis, IN | $17.74 | 5,561,899 | $98.7 million | 5% |
| 5 | Central Ohio Transit Authority | Columbus, OH | $16.08 | 11,853,423 | $191 million | 7% |
| 6 | Regional Public Transportation Authority | Phoenix, AZ | $15.80 | 8,477,785 | $134 million | 4% |
| 7 | City of Charlotte North Carolina | Charlotte, NC | $15.66 | 8,083,605 | $127 million | 7% |
| 8 | Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation | Detroit, MI | $14.89 | 5,743,364 | $85.5 million | 6% |
| 9 | Foothill Transit | West Covina, CA | $14.74 | 9,164,170 | $135 million | 7% |
| 10 | Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority | San Jose, CA | $14.26 | 22,626,518 | $323 million | 7% |
| 11 | Pace, the Suburban Bus Division of the Regional Transportation Authority | Arlington Heights, IL | $14.19 | 16,966,341 | $241 million | 8% |
| 12 | Sacramento Regional Transit District | Sacramento, CA | $14.01 | 9,026,468 | $126 million | 8% |
| 13 | Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District | Oakland, CA | $13.97 | 34,128,581 | $477 million | 9% |
| 14 | Riverside Transit Agency | Riverside, CA | $13.96 | 5,281,891 | $73.7 million | 8% |
| 15 | Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads | Hampton, VA | $13.58 | 7,113,918 | $96.6 million | 7% |
| 16 | Pierce County Transportation Benefit Area Authority | Lakewood, WA | $13.37 | 6,774,524 | $90.6 million | 5% |
| 17 | Dallas Area Rapid Transit | Dallas, TX | $12.91 | 29,091,210 | $376 million | 5% |
| 18 | Fairfax County, VA | Fairfax, VA | $12.74 | 8,721,363 | $111 million | 7% |
| 19 | Bi-State Development Agency of the Missouri-Illinois Metropolitan District | Saint Louis, MO | $12.64 | 12,728,183 | $161 million | 8% |
| 20 | Metro Transit | Minneapolis, MN | $12.54 | 31,941,893 | $400 million | 8% |
| 21 | Transit Authority of River City | Louisville, KY | $12.49 | 6,566,132 | $82.0 million | 9% |
| 22 | Denver Regional Transportation District | Denver, CO | $11.67 | 44,041,734 | $514 million | 7% |
| 23 | Omnitrans | San Bernardino, CA | $11.63 | 6,818,839 | $79.3 million | 9% |
| 24 | Pittsburgh Regional Transit | Pittsburgh, PA | $11.48 | 33,269,678 | $382 million | 13% |
| 25 | Metropolitan Transit Authority | Madison, TN | $11.34 | 8,491,839 | $96.3 million | 7% |
| 26 | Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority | Austin, TX | $11.13 | 24,335,001 | $271 million | 4% |
| 27 | Utah Transit Authority | Salt Lake City, UT | $11.11 | 19,745,601 | $219 million | 8% |
| 28 | Delaware Transit Corporation | Dover, DE | $11.05 | 7,371,709 | $81.4 million | 10% |
| 29 | Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority | Cincinnati, OH | $11.04 | 13,315,628 | $147 million | 12% |
| 30 | King County | Seattle, WA | $10.72 | 73,119,292 | $784 million | 8% |
| 31 | The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority | Cleveland, OH | $10.62 | 18,187,961 | $193 million | 12% |
| 32 | City of Santa Monica | Santa Monica, CA | $10.29 | 8,604,201 | $88.6 million | 7% |
| 33 | Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority | Saint Petersburg, FL | $9.74 | 9,015,982 | $87.8 million | 6% |
| 34 | Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon | Portland, OR | $9.70 | 40,600,671 | $394 million | 8% |
| 35 | Connecticut Department of Transportation - CTTRANSIT New Haven Division | Hartford, CT | $9.63 | 5,988,941 | $57.7 million | 10% |
| 36 | City of El Paso | El Paso, TX | $9.53 | 6,201,919 | $59.1 million | 9% |
| 37 | Central New York Regional Transportation Authority | Syracuse, NY | $9.47 | 7,095,548 | $67.2 million | 16% |
| 38 | Maryland Transit Administration | Baltimore, MD | $9.44 | 48,038,092 | $453 million | 7% |
| 39 | Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas | Houston, TX | $9.36 | 55,839,849 | $523 million | 5% |
| 40 | Spokane Transit Authority | Spokane, WA | $9.34 | 10,166,876 | $94.9 million | 7% |
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
- 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.