Most Expensive Light Rail Systems by Cost per Rider
US light rail systems ranked by operating cost per passenger trip, most expensive first. · 2024 report year
This table ranks 22 US light rail operators by cost per rider for 2024, limited to systems carrying at least 500,000 trips a year so that a very small operator cannot top the list on a handful of rides. 22 agencies reported light rail service in total, carrying 343 million trips between them.
San Diego Metropolitan Transit System runs the cheapest light rail service on this list at $3.58 per rider, against $28.88 at Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority — a spread of 8.1×. The national median for light rail is $11.57 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 | Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority | San Jose, CA | $28.88 | 4,723,010 | $136 million | 4% |
| 2 | Pittsburgh Regional Transit | Pittsburgh, PA | $24.24 | 3,397,749 | $82.3 million | 3% |
| 3 | The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority | Cleveland, OH | $17.13 | 808,055 | $13.8 million | 8% |
| 4 | Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads | Hampton, VA | $16.32 | 867,648 | $14.2 million | 6% |
| 5 | Bi-State Development Agency of the Missouri-Illinois Metropolitan District | Saint Louis, MO | $14.94 | 6,752,816 | $101 million | 7% |
| 6 | Denver Regional Transportation District | Denver, CO | $14.64 | 11,161,755 | $163 million | 5% |
| 7 | Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority | Los Angeles, CA | $14.50 | 43,287,009 | $628 million | 3% |
| 8 | Maryland Transit Administration | Baltimore, MD | $13.58 | 4,471,100 | $60.7 million | 5% |
| 9 | Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority | Buffalo, NY | $13.35 | 2,394,940 | $32.0 million | 11% |
| 10 | Sacramento Regional Transit District | Sacramento, CA | $13.04 | 6,783,370 | $88.4 million | 8% |
| 11 | Dallas Area Rapid Transit | Dallas, TX | $12.09 | 22,102,282 | $267 million | 6% |
| 12 | Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority | Seattle, WA | $11.04 | 29,843,190 | $330 million | 12% |
| 13 | Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon | Portland, OR | $10.74 | 23,393,585 | $251 million | 8% |
| 14 | City of Charlotte North Carolina | Charlotte, NC | $10.09 | 5,804,651 | $58.6 million | 8% |
| 15 | City and County of San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | $8.53 | 28,230,682 | $241 million | 6% |
| 16 | Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas | Houston, TX | $7.54 | 13,652,169 | $103 million | 3% |
| 17 | Utah Transit Authority | Salt Lake City, UT | $7.53 | 13,964,839 | $105 million | 12% |
| 18 | Valley Metro Rail, Inc. | Phoenix, AZ | $7.35 | 10,215,129 | $75.1 million | 9% |
| 19 | Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority | Boston, MA | $7.25 | 36,668,303 | $266 million | 20% |
| 20 | New Jersey Transit Corporation | Newark, NJ | $6.78 | 19,738,044 | $134 million | 9% |
| 21 | Metro Transit | Minneapolis, MN | $6.46 | 15,489,194 | $100 million | 13% |
| 22 | San Diego Metropolitan Transit System | San Diego, CA | $3.58 | 39,649,485 | $142 million | 21% |
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
- 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
- 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 500,000 trips a year.