MTA New York City Transit

Bus at MTA New York City Transit

MTA New York City Transit carried 647,859,171 bus boardings in FY2024 at $5.36 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Bus Brooklyn, NY
← All of MTA New York City Transit
FY2024 boardings
647.9M
+13.5% vs FY2023
Cost per ride
$5.36
-2% nationwide $8.24
Subsidy per ride
$4.49
+0.5% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
16.1%
-11.2% nationwide 11%
Passenger miles
1.2B
average trip 1.85 miles
Operating cost
$3.47B
Vehicles in service
3,264
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
54.76
11.8M 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
Directly operated 647,859,171 1,196,432,322 11,831,472 $3,471,179,450 $5.36 $4.49 16.1% 3,264

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 MTA New York City Transit reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2024 647,859,171 1,196,432,322 83,110,644 11,831,472 $3,471,179,450 $559,281,876 $5.36 $4.49 16.1%
2023 570,625,248 1,373,347,948 83,176,381 11,879,789 $3,118,485,221 $565,695,988 $5.47 $4.47 18.1%
2022 458,602,306 1,088,139,630 82,638,609 11,822,039 $2,897,009,660 $552,000,888 $6.32 $5.11 19.1%
2021 393,017,794 925,195,468 80,849,156 11,617,289 $2,752,149,757 $508,641,029 $7.00 $5.71 18.5%
2020 403,160,315 888,168,117 80,118,986 11,429,343 $2,607,674,237 $361,154,071 $6.47 $5.57 13.8%
2019 691,616,614 1,478,429,570 86,233,591 12,215,926 $2,685,918,268 $846,111,742 $3.88 $2.66 31.5%
2018 691,981,427 1,472,423,041 85,824,679 12,136,604 $2,563,162,504 $842,210,348 $3.70 $2.49 32.9%
2017 691,273,010 1,450,951,265 85,993,623 12,201,259 $2,520,243,905 $859,309,666 $3.65 $2.40 34.1%
2016 743,752,458 1,553,770,171 86,863,364 12,272,959 $2,779,372,331 $860,046,215 $3.74 $2.58 30.9%
2015 743,763,755 1,559,582,567 87,657,339 12,351,378 $2,662,592,742 $871,393,139 $3.58 $2.41 32.7%