Public Transit Ridership Statistics

Nexis4Jersey · #1 Posted **Aug 24, 2015, 5:23 AM**

I'm surprised no created a thread for this years report...

Source Q1 2015 - http://www.apta.com/resources/statis...rship-APTA.pdf
Old 2014 numbers can still be found on wiki
Commuter Rail - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commut..._North_America
Heavy Rail - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...s_by_ridership
Light Rail - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...s_by_ridership

Q1 - 2015 Ridership - Jan-March

Daily Ridership

Light Rail

1. Calgary / C-Train - 333,700 (2015)
2. Los Angeles / Metro-LRT - 193,600 (2015)
3. Boston / Green Line & ASH-MATT - 191,500 (2015)
4. San Francisco / Muni Metro - 150,300 (2015)
5. San Diego / SD Trolley - 123,600 (2015)
6. Portland / MAX - 116,300 (2015)
7. Edmonton / LRT - 109,650 (2015)
8. Dallas / DART - 92,500 (2015)
9. Denver / RTD LRT - 85,900 (2015)
10. Salt Lake City / Trax - 64,900 (2015)
11. Minneapolis / Metro LRT - 62,000 (2015)
12. NJ Gold Coast / HBLR - 57,200 (2015)
13. Phoenix / Valley Metro LRT - 47,500 (2015)
14. St. Louis / MetroLink - 46,900 (2015)
15. Houston / Metrorail - 46,400 (2015)
16. Sacramento / RT LRT - 45,200 (2015)
17. Seattle / Link LRT - 34,900 (2015)
18. San Jose / VTA LRT - 34,700 (2015)
19. Pittsburgh / The T - 22,200 (2015)
20. Baltimore / LRT - 18,900 (2015)
21. Newark / LRT - 18,810 (2015)
22. Buffalo / Metro Rail - 17,500 (2015)
23. Charlotte / Lynx LRT - 14,800 (2015)
24. Cleveland / RTA Blue & Green lines - 7,613 (2015)
25. Norfolk / LRT - 4,500 (2015)

Tram-Train & Diesel Light Rail

1. Ottawa / O-Train - 14,500 (2015)
2. Oceanside / Sprinter - 9,400 (2015)
3. South Jersey / RiverLine - 9,200 (2015)

Ferries

1. New York / New York City DOT - 56,240 (2015)
2. Seattle / Washington State Ferries - 54,800 (2015)
3. Burnaby / Greater Vancouver Transp Auth - 18,000 (2015)
4. San Francisco / Golden Gate Bridge, Hwy & TD - 7,300 (2015)
5. San Francisco / Water Emergency Tr Auth - 6,300 (2015)
6. Jersey City / Port Authority of NY & NJ - 3,900 (2015)
7. Boston / MBTA - 3,100 (2015)
8. Bremerton / Kitsap Transit - 1,700 (2015)
9. Hampton / Hampton Roads Transit - 400 (2015)
10. Corpus Christi / Corpus Christi Regional TA - 300 (2015)
11. New York / Metro North Shuttle - 300 (2015)

Automated Guideway

1. Miami / Miami-Dade Transit Agency - 33,700 (2015)
2. New York / JFK Airtrain - 17,500 (2015)
3. Detroit / Detroit People Mover - 6,000 (2014)
4. Jacksonville / Jacksonville Transp Auth - 4,500 (2015)

Streetcars

1. Toronto / Streetcar - 292,800 (2015)
2. Philadelphia / Trolleys - 87,100 (2015)
3. New Orleans / Streetcars - 21,800 (2015)
4. San Francisco / Cable cars - 20,100 (2014)
5. Portland / Streetcar - 20,011 (2014)
6. Tuscon / SunLink - 4,000 (2015)
7. Seattle / SLU - 2,200 (2014)
8. Tampa / Teco - 700 (2014)

Trolley Buses

1. Vancouver / Greater Vancouver Transp Auth - 193,200 (2015)
2. San Fransisco / Muni - 176,300 (2015)
3. Seattle / King County - 73,600 (2015)
4. Philadelphia / SEPTA - 21,600 (2015)
5. Dayton / Greater Dayton TA - 8,500 (2015)
6. Boston / MBTA - 4,900 (2015)

Heavy Rail

1. New York City / Subway - 5.7 Million (2015)
2. Montreal / Metro - 1.2 Million (2015)
3. Toronto / Rapid Transit - 1.06 Million (2015)
4. Washington / Metro - 869,400 (2015)
5. Chicago / "L" - 723,000 (2015)
6. Boston / Blue , Red & Orange lines - 498,200 (2015)
7. San Francisco / BART - 442,000 (2015)
8. Vancouver / Skytrain - 363,800 (2015)
9. Philadelphia / EL & Subway - 330,500 (2015)
10. Urban Jersey / PATH - 266,647 (2015)
11. Atlanta / MARTA - 217,100 (2015)
12. Los Angeles / Purple & Red lines - 147,800 (2015)
13. Miami / Metrorail - 77,200 (2015)
14. Baltimore / Metro - 44,500 (2015)
15. San Juan / Tren Urbano - 35,900 (2015)
16. South Jersey / PATCO - 35,100 (2015)
17. Staten Island / Railway - 29,100 (2015)
18. Cleveland / Red Line - 16,995 (2014)

Suburban/Regional/Commuter Rail

1. Long Island / Long Island Railroad - 336,600 (2015)
2. New Jersey / NJT - 295,173 (2014)
3. Northern NY Suburbs / Metro North - 289,300 (2015)
4. Chicago Suburbs / Metra - 284,700 (2015)
5. Greater Toronto Area / Go Transit - 215,000 (2015)
6. Philadelphia Suburbs / SEPTA Regional Rail - 130,100 (2015)
7. Boston Suburbs / MBTA Commuter Rail - 103,400 (2015)
8. Montreal / AMT - 76,400 (2015)
9. Bay Area / Caltrain - 55,500 (2015)
10. Los Angeles Suburbs / MetroLink - 40,900 (2015)
11. Washington-Baltimore Metro / Marc - 34,200 (2015)
12. NOVA / Virgina Railway Express - 17,900 (2015)
13. Salt Lake City / Front Runner - 15,900 (2015)
14. South Florida / Tri Rail - 14,600 (2015)
15. Seattle-Tacoma / Sounder - 13,900 (2015)
16. Northern Indiana / South Shore Line - 11,600 (2015)
17. Vancouver Suburbs / West Coast Express - 10,600 (2014)
18. Dallas-Fort Worth / Trinity Railway Express - 7,800 (2015)
19. San Diego Suburbs / Coaster - 5,000 (2015)
20. San Jose-Stockton / ACE - 4,800 (2015)
21. Albuquerque-Santa Fe / Rail Runner - 3,200 (2015)
22. Orlando / Sun Rail - 3,200 (2015)
23. Austin Suburbs / Cap Metrorail - 3,200 (2015)
24. Minneapolis Suburbs / Northstar - 2,300 (2015)
25. Eastern Connecticut / Shore Line East - 1,900 (2015)
26. Portland Suburbs / WES - 1,800 (2015)
27. Denton / A-Train - 1,700 (2015)
28. Nashville / Music City Star - 1,000 (2014)

Largest Bus Agencies

1. New York / MTA Bus - 2.4 Million (2015)
2. Toronto / TTC Bus - 1.3 Million (2015)
3. Los Angeles / MTA Bus - 1.083 Million (2015)
4. Montreal / STM - 965,300 (2015)
5. Chicago / CTA Bus - 868,800 (2015)
6. Philadelphia / SEPTA Bus - 526,400 (2015)
7. Ottawa / OC Transport - 519,600 (2015)
8. Vancouver / Greater Vancouver Transport - 461,593 (2015)
9. New Jersey / NJT - 452,740 (2015)
10. Washington DC / WMATA - 425,200 (2015)
11. Boston / MBTA Bus - 343,000 (2015)
12. Seattle / King County - 328,300 (2015)
13. Edmonton / Edmonton Transit System - 326,100 (2015)
14. San Francisco / Muni - 298,800 (2015)
15. Calgary / Calgary Transit - 273,000 (2015)
16. Baltimore / MTA Bus - 259,700 (2015)
17. Denver / RTD Bus - 255,200 (2015)
18. Miami / MDT Bus - 242,500 (2015)
19. Houston / Metro Bus - 222,200 (2015)
20. Minneapolis / Metro Transit - 207,800 (2015)
21. Portland / Trimet Bus - 207,100 (2015)
22. Atlanta / Marta Bus - 191,400 (2015)
23. Las Vegas / RTC Bus - 190,730 (2015)
24. San Diego / SDMTS - 186,900 (2015)
25. Oakland / AC Bus - 184,400 (2015)
26. Pittsburgh / PAT Bus - 154,586 (2015)
27. Orange County / OC Bus - 152,400 (2015)
28. Longueuil / RTL - 139,000 (2015)
29. Fort Lauderdale / Broward County Transit - 135,600 (2015)
30. Phoenix / PTD Bus - 132,200 (2015)
31. San Antonio / VIA Metropolitan Transit - 129,700 (2015)
32. Quebec City / Bus - 128,000 (2015)
33. Dallas / DART Bus - 116,000 (2015)
34. San Jose / SCV Bus - 109,600 (2015)
35. Cleveland / RTA Bus - 109,403 (2015)
36. Milwaukee / Milwaukee Transit - 104,600 (2015)
37. Victoria / BC Transit - 99,600 (2015)
38. Arlington Heights / PACE Bus - 95,800 (2015)
39. Long Beach / Long Beach transit - 92,800 (2015)
40. Orlando / Central Florida RTA - 89,600 (2015)
41. St. Louis / Bi-State Dev Agency - 87,300 (2015)
42. Gatineau / STO - 83,000 (2015)
43. Rockville / Montgomery County Ride-On - 79,500 (2015)
44. Santa Monica / Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus - 79,300 (2015)
45. Richmond Hill / York Region Transit - 74,900 (2015)
46. Laval / STL - 74,000 (2015)
47. Brampton / Brampton Transit - 67,400 (2015)
48. Detroit / City of Detroit Dept of Trp - 66,800 (2015)
49. Columbus / Central Ohio Transit - 59,400 (2015)
50. Cincinnati / Southwest Ohio RTA - 52,800 (2015)
51. Hampton / Hampton Roads Transit - 41,800 (2015)

mhays · #2 Posted **Aug 24, 2015, 5:33 AM**

Sound Transit would be a second bus system in the Seattle area on your list (61k).

Also, trolley buses are buses. King County Metro would be over 400k/day not including Sound Transit or the other smaller agencies.

Maybe you meant to title it "largest bus agencies per city" rather than "largest bus agencies." That would erase the error.

Nexis4Jersey · #3 Posted **Aug 24, 2015, 5:56 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhays

Sound Transit would be a second bus system in the Seattle area on your list (61k).

Also, trolley buses are buses. King County Metro would be over 400k/day not including Sound Transit or the other smaller agencies.

Maybe you meant to title it "largest bus agencies per city" rather than "largest bus agencies." That would erase the error.

I added Sound Transit...and changed the title... There was a separate category for Trolley Buses so I decided to add that in...along with Diesel LRT.

nname · #4 Posted **Aug 24, 2015, 6:44 AM**

You missed the trolley bus for Vancouver: 193,200

What about passenger ferries? (FB)

mhays · #5 Posted **Aug 24, 2015, 2:45 PM**

Thanks for the changes. And the effort.

Nexis4Jersey · #6 Posted **Aug 24, 2015, 2:56 PM**

I left out a few systems including Ferries which I will eventually put in.

Pink Jazz · #7 Posted **Aug 24, 2015, 3:33 PM**

For the bus data, it appears the numbers for Phoenix include only the operations that are actually operated by the City of Phoenix. While Phoenix Public Transit is technically a separate agency from Valley Metro RPTA, they all operate under the Valley Metro brand and use and accept the same passes.

SkahHigh · #8 Posted **Aug 24, 2015, 5:27 PM**

Montreal's commuter rail stats are weird. Last year without the Mascouche Line it was at 74,000. Now with the Mascouche Line (5000 more), the numbers are at 76,400? The AMT stats indicate 79,700 daily ridership for 2015, which makes more sense.

fflint · #9 Posted **Aug 24, 2015, 9:10 PM**

It's spelled "San Francisco."

Also, APTA doesn't classify San Francisco's cable cars as 'streetcars'--they are two different modes. SF has both Cable Cars and streetcars, but unfortunately Muni doesn't publish ridership statistics for our streetcars.

bobdreamz · #10 Posted **Aug 24, 2015, 9:36 PM**

Also forgot to add AG = Automated Guideway for the downtown People Movers in Miami & Jax.

FL Miami Miami-Dade Transit Agency [AG] 33,700 passengers per day
FL Jacksonville Jacksonville Transp Auth [AG] 4,500 passengers per day

Great job Nexis by the way!

Londonee · #11 Posted **Aug 24, 2015, 9:37 PM**

It'd be interesting to see total ridership across all modes per region - so PATH for NYC, PATCO for PHL, etc.

Nouvellecosse · #12 Posted **Aug 24, 2015, 10:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkahHigh

Montreal's commuter rail stats are weird. Last year without the Mascouche Line it was at 74,000. Now with the Mascouche Line (5000 more), the numbers are at 76,400? The AMT stats indicate 79,700 daily ridership for 2015, which makes more sense.

I think there are two things going on here. First is that you're likely comparing this first quarter 2015 report with a combined 2014 report which is an average of the 4 quarters. Some parts of the year are naturally busier than others due to things like students and other variations in travel patterns. So if you're looking to make accurate comparisons of ridership growth or decline it's best to compare equivalent stats. For instance, the first quarter of this year with the first quarter of a previous year, or the yearly average of one year with the average of another entire year (obviously not possible yet for 2015).

Since this thread shows the first quarter of 2015 I looked up the first quarter of 2014 and it shows the average weekday ridership was 72,600, so that's a quarterly increase of 3,800. I also compared Dec. of 2014 with Dec of 2013, and although it doesn't give average daily ridership by month, for Dec 2013 the total trips were 1,454.1 million and in Dec 2014 they were 1,636.8 million. Divided by 30 days, that's over 6000 per day increase. And considering that most of the ridership is on weekdays, divided by 22 is over 8000 per day. But of course, not all that is likely to have come from the new line as ridership growth is a natural part of a healthy system in a growing region anyway.

The second factor is that the 5000 figure from the AMT seems to be from the 2014 annual report, which of course was only the line's first month of ridership (Dec.). It's normal for ridership of a new line to be very high the first month from people simply riding out of curiosity or sometimes due to promotions and specials such as discounted fares only for ridership to drop afterwards. So I suspect the 5000 figure for Dec to be accurate, and the 3,800 change between Q1, 2014 and Q1, 2015 to be accurate as well. The increase is likely something like 2,500 for the new line and the rest from system wide growth. This is reinforced by comparing Q1, 2014 and Q1, 2013 which shows an increase from 71.5 to 72.6 or 1.1 difference.

No doubt the ridership will continue to grow over the next few years and it won't be long before it surpasses the opening month. But for now, 2,500 is still not bad for such a new service.

The Chemist · #13 Posted **Aug 25, 2015, 4:14 AM**

That NYC number seems awfully high, given that according to Wikipedia the New York Subway is only the world's 7th busiest, with an annual ridership of 1.751 billion, giving an average daily ridership of 4.8 million, not 8.5 million as this list claims. 8.5 million per day would make it the world's second busiest, after Beijing (9.3 million per day) and just in front of Shanghai (7.7 million per day)

Nouvellecosse · #14 Posted **Aug 25, 2015, 6:42 AM**

^ You're right. The MTA website places ridership at 5.6 million for weekdays in 2014. It seems the APTA report does mention that it's "unlinked" trip, which would mean that the every ride is counted even if the person gets on the train after transferring from another line. For the figures on the MTA site, it says "Ridership does not include passengers who exit the subway or passengers who transfer from other subway lines, with the exception of out-of-system transfers".

afiggatt · #15 Posted **Aug 25, 2015, 1:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Chemist

That NYC number seems awfully high, given that according to Wikipedia the New York Subway is only the world's 7th busiest, with an annual ridership of 1.751 billion, giving an average daily ridership of 4.8 million, not 8.5 million as this list claims. 8.5 million per day would make it the world's second busiest, after Beijing (9.3 million per day) and just in front of Shanghai (7.7 million per day)

The APTA data is for estimated unlinked transit passenger trips. So someone who transfers to another subway line and rides on 2 subway trains to get to their destination counts as 2 separate "unlinked" trips but as 1 passenger entering and exiting the system. This is a fundamental item to keep in mind when examining the APTA numbers. They are requesting data from the transit agencies on estimated total trips by mode, not passengers entering and exiting the system.

So for systems with multiple lines and transfers, the unlinked trips count how many train trips were taken which does show the total load on the system, but the number of daily or total passengers over a quarter or year will be smaller. Since most transit systems post public stats in terms of daily and total passengers, the APTA numbers really have to be compared against the APTA numbers for the other transit systems and previous APTA quarterly reports for trends and ridership.

afiggatt · #16 Posted **Aug 25, 2015, 1:47 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

Source Q1 2015 - http://www.apta.com/resources/statis...rship-APTA.pdf
Old 2014 numbers can still be found on wiki

The archive of the APTA quarterly reports going back to 1996 are available on the APTA website here. For those interested in trends for modes and specific transit system, you can download some of the 4th quarter reports and compare the numbers over the years.

it should be noted that the Boston MBTA trip numbers for the 1st quarter 2015 are down, especially for the Green Line light rail (-11%) and, even more so for the commuter rail (-21%) because of the system shutdowns and disruptions caused by the record breaking snowfall the region got this past winter. So the Boston MBTA light rail mode will likely jump back above LA light rail in rankings in the 2nd quarter. Although LA Metro light rail will eventually move ahead of MBTA light rail in trips as the new light rail lines and extensions open in LA.

The Chemist · #17 Posted **Aug 25, 2015, 1:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by afiggatt

The APTA data is for estimated unlinked transit passenger trips. So someone who transfers to another subway line and rides on 2 subway trains to get to their destination counts as 2 separate "unlinked" trips but as 1 passenger entering and exiting the system. This is a fundamental item to keep in mind when examining the APTA numbers. They are requesting data from the transit agencies on estimated total trips by mode, not passengers entering and exiting the system.

So for systems with multiple lines and transfers, the unlinked trips count how many train trips were taken which does show the total load on the system, but the number of daily or total passengers over a quarter or year will be smaller. Since most transit systems post public stats in terms of daily and total passengers, the APTA numbers really have to be compared against the APTA numbers for the other transit systems and previous APTA quarterly reports for trends and ridership.

Thanks for the explanation. That makes sense.