City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation

Bus at City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation

City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation carried 14,512,714 bus boardings in FY2024 at $6.28 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Bus Los Angeles, CA
FY2024 boardings
14.5M
+1.2% vs FY2023
Cost per ride
$6.28
+22.1% nationwide $8.24
Subsidy per ride
$6.28
+22.1% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
0.1%
-19% nationwide 11%
Passenger miles
22.8M
average trip 1.57 miles
Operating cost
$91.2M
Vehicles in service
186
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
21.19
684.8K 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 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, 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
Purchased transportation 14,512,714 22,812,382 684,758 $91,193,824 $6.28 $6.28 0.1% 186

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 Los Angeles Department of Transportation reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2024 14,512,714 22,812,382 7,330,311 684,758 $91,193,824 $73,353 $6.28 $6.28 0.1%
2023 14,344,180 24,548,159 6,969,904 622,327 $73,832,031 $73,319 $5.15 $5.14 0.1%
2022 12,629,788 21,057,633 7,050,029 618,895 $77,104,992 $44,948 $6.11 $6.10 0.1%
2021 8,830,412 10,479,415 6,734,063 648,410 $77,638,402 $5,970 $8.79 $8.79 0%
2020 12,899,620 22,828,070 5,527,221 640,574 $73,806,243 $4,699,950 $5.72 $5.36 6.4%
2019 17,467,066 30,643,590 5,196,473 616,991 $67,531,562 $6,832,887 $3.87 $3.48 10.1%
2018 16,772,781 30,243,844 4,860,106 591,920 $64,307,586 $7,186,819 $3.83 $3.41 11.2%
2017 18,128,000 28,046,802 5,087,739 587,872 $60,387,620 $6,732,957 $3.33 $2.96 11.1%
2016 19,711,027 26,788,716 5,258,747 581,351 $53,178,978 $7,502,978 $2.70 $2.32 14.1%
2015 22,044,663 33,775,825 5,212,344 576,326 $51,981,036 $8,132,790 $2.36 $1.99 15.6%