City of DeKalb Public Transit

Bus at City of DeKalb Public Transit

City of DeKalb Public Transit carried 974,577 bus boardings in FY2025 at $6.19 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Bus Dekalb, IL
FY2025 boardings
974.6K
+15.8% vs FY2024
Cost per ride
$6.19
-4.7% nationwide $8.57
Subsidy per ride
$4.56
+4.2% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
26.3%
-19.4% nationwide 10.4%
Passenger miles
2.77M
average trip 2.84 miles
Operating cost
$6.03M
Vehicles in service
19
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
14.74
66.1K 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
Purchased transportation 974,577 2,765,187 66,119 $6,028,131 $6.19 $4.56 26.3% 19

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 City of DeKalb Public Transit reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2025 974,577 2,765,187 911,193 66,119 $6,028,131 $1,586,831 $6.19 $4.56 26.3%
2024 841,881 1,720,181 911,352 63,820 $5,466,542 $1,785,157 $6.49 $4.37 32.7%
2023 618,930 1,141,602 750,001 59,764 $5,269,903 $1,801,355 $8.51 $5.60 34.2%
2022 574,576 1,303,453 718,568 57,696 $4,907,367 $1,917,754 $8.54 $5.20 39.1%
2021 290,718 668,651 636,276 52,521 $3,741,291 $2,079,237 $12.87 $5.72 55.6%
2020 854,380 1,834,403 604,642 53,050 $4,459,415 $2,269,780 $5.22 $2.56 50.9%
2019 509,527 1,110,139 302,177 27,393 $1,941,356 $1,691,384 $3.81 $0.49 87.1%
2018 — — — — — — — — —
2017 — — — — $39,122 $21,297 — — 54.4%
2016 — — — — $20,536 $14,671 — — 71.4%
2015 — — — — $22,251 $20,892 — — 93.9%