Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

Commuter Rail at Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority carried 29,186,010 commuter rail boardings in FY2024 at $19.51 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Commuter Rail Boston, MA
FY2024 boardings
29.2M
+24.2% vs FY2023
Cost per ride
$19.51
-4% nationwide $24.41
Subsidy per ride
$14.96
-3.8% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
23.4%
-1% nationwide 26%
Passenger miles
623.6M
average trip 21.37 miles
Operating cost
$569.5M
Vehicles in service
400
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
32.68
893.2K hours operated

Ridership

This service reports annually.

Monthly boardings

NTD publishes monthly figures for full reporters only, so this service has annual data alone.

Annual boardings

Ten-year series

Cost

This service against every commuter 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
Purchased transportation 29,186,010 623,645,452 893,191 $569,535,378 $19.51 $14.96 23.4% 400

Safety and reliability

For this service alone.

Miles between failures

Revenue miles divided by mechanical failures. Higher is better.

Full series

Every year Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2024 29,186,010 623,645,452 25,204,170 893,191 $569,535,378 $132,997,512 $19.51 $14.96 23.4%
2023 23,494,793 503,068,787 23,726,200 815,484 $477,756,069 $112,639,505 $20.33 $15.54 23.6%
2022 14,310,785 307,334,036 23,837,624 818,346 $474,347,246 $80,658,731 $33.15 $27.51 17%
2021 6,995,413 155,056,157 19,929,696 670,434 $389,025,226 $33,040,564 $55.61 $50.89 8.5%
2020 24,761,705 513,830,968 22,300,695 750,128 $384,240,499 $202,929,763 $15.52 $7.32 52.8%
2019 31,177,738 653,570,994 24,935,847 829,590 $384,352,038 $238,575,681 $12.33 $4.68 62.1%
2018 32,859,741 680,949,680 24,565,346 827,523 $371,909,742 $229,103,721 $11.32 $4.35 61.6%
2017 33,949,637 697,665,040 24,911,491 799,152 $399,040,465 $218,382,654 $11.75 $5.32 54.7%
2016 33,830,904 697,963,284 23,532,668 785,000 $403,654,786 $198,331,440 $11.93 $6.07 49.1%
2015 32,869,874 678,185,066 21,927,049 744,459 $404,653,647 $188,964,138 $12.31 $6.56 46.7%