NFTA - Metro Bus & Rail

Demand Response at NFTA - Metro Bus & Rail

NFTA - Metro Bus & Rail carried 252,606 demand response boardings in FY2025 at $55.22 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Demand Response Buffalo, NY
FY2025 boardings
252.6K
+6.9% vs FY2024
Cost per ride
$55.22
+5.6% nationwide $52.35
Subsidy per ride
$53.06
+6.8% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
3.9%
-21.4% nationwide 6.7%
Passenger miles
2.38M
average trip 9.42 miles
Operating cost
$13.9M
Vehicles in service
67
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
2.04
123.8K 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 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, 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
Directly operated 252,606 2,380,268 123,767 $13,949,341 $55.22 $53.06 3.9% 67

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 NFTA - Metro Bus & Rail reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2025 252,606 2,380,268 1,942,863 123,767 $13,949,341 $545,194 $55.22 $53.06 3.9%
2024 236,372 2,268,303 1,764,701 116,000 $12,361,530 $614,609 $52.30 $49.70 5%
2023 219,168 2,251,877 1,695,379 107,421 $11,578,376 $607,921 $52.83 $50.06 5.3%
2022 201,299 2,043,315 1,679,816 99,905 $10,008,053 $593,808 $49.72 $46.77 5.9%
2021 113,603 914,777 1,063,093 70,873 $8,032,878 $274,594 $70.71 $68.29 3.4%
2020 225,748 2,058,515 2,073,772 113,774 $10,887,739 $688,000 $48.23 $45.18 6.3%
2019 214,499 2,052,489 1,840,335 117,220 $10,556,586 $618,757 $49.22 $46.33 5.9%
2018 205,659 2,070,375 1,693,794 109,956 $10,065,187 $605,150 $48.94 $46.00 6%
2017 203,424 1,781,854 1,675,116 108,753 $9,564,150 $606,648 $47.02 $44.03 6.3%
2016 186,932 1,747,625 1,664,961 99,222 $9,267,415 $561,635 $49.58 $46.57 6.1%
2015 179,185 1,810,619 1,686,059 96,406 $8,772,467 $559,606 $48.96 $45.83 6.4%