Citrus Connection

Bus at Citrus Connection

Citrus Connection carried 855,153 bus boardings in FY2025 at $21.64 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Bus Lakeland, FL
FY2025 boardings
855.2K
-2.2% vs FY2024
Cost per ride
$21.64
+6.1% nationwide $8.57
Subsidy per ride
$20.86
+5.7% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
3.6%
+12.1% nationwide 10.4%
Passenger miles
4.54M
average trip 5.31 miles
Operating cost
$18.5M
Vehicles in service
47
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
6.56
130.4K hours operated

Ridership

Monthly data through August 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 bus 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, FY2025

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 790,051 4,210,972 99,185 $16,283,575 $20.61 $19.79 4% 38
Purchased transportation 65,102 333,322 31,168 $2,223,056 $34.15 $33.80 1% 9

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 Citrus Connection reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2025 855,153 4,544,294 2,161,502 130,353 $18,506,631 $670,810 $21.64 $20.86 3.6%
2024 874,550 4,644,288 2,097,572 130,844 $17,836,535 $576,773 $20.40 $19.74 3.2%
2023 764,190 4,156,712 2,084,113 128,447 $15,206,287 $565,426 $19.90 $19.16 3.7%
2022 613,383 3,609,428 1,790,750 109,890 $13,050,903 $455,952 $21.28 $20.53 3.5%
2021 558,237 3,304,123 1,858,524 109,995 $11,496,123 $428,603 $20.59 $19.83 3.7%
2020 774,569 4,514,472 1,654,747 99,561 $10,163,061 $550,491 $13.12 $12.41 5.4%
2019 1,187,030 6,722,792 1,465,800 89,311 $9,575,346 $1,150,045 $8.07 $7.10 12%
2018 1,144,300 6,480,784 1,457,881 92,634 $9,202,998 $1,212,424 $8.04 $6.98 13.2%
2017 1,252,509 7,088,796 1,378,277 90,759 $8,866,718 $1,975,088 $7.08 $5.50 22.3%
2016 1,304,808 8,076,814 1,372,618 89,104 $9,813,386 $1,845,356 $7.52 $6.11 18.8%
2015 1,355,697 8,045,245 1,163,580 79,660 $6,424,382 $284,018 $4.74 $4.53 4.4%