Baltimore MTA

Light Rail at Baltimore MTA

Baltimore MTA carried 4,471,100 light rail boardings in FY2024 at $13.58 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Light Rail Baltimore, MD
FY2024 boardings
4.47M
+30.2% vs FY2023
Cost per ride
$13.58
+19.6% nationwide $9.88
Subsidy per ride
$12.96
+21.8% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
4.6%
-27.1% nationwide 9.5%
Passenger miles
18.4M
average trip 4.12 miles
Operating cost
$60.7M
Vehicles in service
17
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
24.08
185.7K hours operated

Ridership

Monthly data through July 2026.

This year against the last five

Same months on one axis, so seasonality does not read as a trend

Annual boardings

Ten-year series

Cost

This service against every light rail operator in the country.

Cost per ride

This agency against the national figure for the same mode

Fare recovery

Share of operating cost covered by fares

Directly operated and purchased service, FY2024

NTD reports these separately. An agency that contracts a service out reports the contract price, which bundles costs a directly operating agency reports line by line.

Service Boardings Passenger miles Revenue hours Operating cost Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery Vehicles
Directly operated 4,471,100 18,433,663 185,674 $60,727,467 $13.58 $12.96 4.6% 17

Safety and reliability

For this service alone.

Events by year

Complete calendar years only

Miles between failures

Revenue miles divided by mechanical failures. Higher is better.

Full series

Every year Baltimore MTA reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2024 4,471,100 18,433,663 2,436,045 185,674 $60,727,467 $2,786,176 $13.58 $12.96 4.6%
2023 3,434,185 15,385,667 2,984,967 192,795 $39,000,686 $2,453,871 $11.36 $10.64 6.3%
2022 2,903,523 13,671,562 3,110,550 201,420 $52,551,901 $3,362,800 $18.10 $16.94 6.4%
2021 2,458,661 12,135,861 3,166,877 203,184 $70,678,370 $3,112,100 $28.75 $27.48 4.4%
2020 4,652,718 26,579,844 2,588,105 131,530 $46,077,929 $4,682,551 $9.90 $8.90 10.2%
2019 6,966,072 39,816,955 3,019,591 154,918 $47,917,891 $6,146,500 $6.88 $6.00 12.8%
2018 7,416,504 44,778,153 2,988,892 151,280 $43,950,196 $7,177,100 $5.93 $4.96 16.3%
2017 7,345,442 48,343,150 2,940,690 157,002 $42,626,110 $7,177,772 $5.80 $4.83 16.8%
2016 7,431,060 51,174,928 3,138,056 162,173 $43,513,880 $8,121,774 $5.86 $4.76 18.7%
2015 7,657,256 50,930,162 2,982,965 153,579 $44,757,502 $7,584,924 $5.85 $4.85 16.9%