Metropolitan Council

Demand Response at Metropolitan Council

Metropolitan Council carried 2,220,041 demand response boardings in FY2024 at $54.03 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Demand Response Saint Paul, MN
FY2024 boardings
2.22M
+0.4% vs FY2023
Cost per ride
$54.03
+10.1% nationwide $50.62
Subsidy per ride
$51.16
+11.8% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
5.3%
-21.8% nationwide 6.8%
Passenger miles
25.1M
average trip 11.32 miles
Operating cost
$120M
Vehicles in service
571
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
1.52
1.47M 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 demand response 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 2,220,041 25,120,555 1,465,269 $119,959,754 $54.03 $51.16 5.3% 571

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 Metropolitan Council reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2024 2,220,041 25,120,555 25,141,982 1,465,269 $119,959,754 $6,384,444 $54.03 $51.16 5.3%
2023 2,211,448 24,524,924 24,894,277 1,397,092 $108,577,431 $7,392,089 $49.10 $45.76 6.8%
2022 2,069,540 21,954,680 24,165,657 1,326,846 $94,604,884 $7,191,901 $45.71 $42.24 7.6%
2021 1,928,824 19,772,242 25,916,674 1,393,278 $90,466,933 $6,617,477 $46.90 $43.47 7.3%
2020 1,527,951 15,087,846 21,404,785 1,399,493 $87,009,720 $4,358,060 $56.95 $54.09 5%
2019 2,573,189 29,755,037 26,408,522 1,451,319 $84,642,049 $8,770,453 $32.89 $29.49 10.4%
2018 249,133 2,488,094 2,176,212 112,278 $7,129,685 $957,533 $28.62 $24.77 13.4%
2017 286,325 2,859,799 2,354,830 117,772 $6,436,951 $859,413 $22.48 $19.48 13.4%
2016 302,667 2,990,350 2,376,139 120,734 $6,536,743 $842,542 $21.60 $18.81 12.9%
2015 370,787 3,663,815 2,737,618 137,504 $7,557,428 $887,123 $20.38 $17.99 11.7%