North Carolina State University

Bus at North Carolina State University

North Carolina State University (NCSU) carried 3,036,269 bus boardings in FY2025 at $1.01 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Bus Raleigh, NC
FY2025 boardings
3.04M
+13.7% vs FY2024
Cost per ride
$1.01
-15.5% nationwide $8.57
Subsidy per ride
—
operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
—
nationwide 10.4%
Passenger miles
4.61M
average trip 1.52 miles
Operating cost
$3.07M
Vehicles in service
28
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
45.75
66.4K 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 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, 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
Purchased transportation 3,036,269 4,614,206 66,369 $3,072,951 $1.01 — — 28

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 North Carolina State University reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2025 3,036,269 4,614,206 572,643 66,369 $3,072,951 — $1.01 — —
2024 2,671,487 4,368,679 578,776 66,287 $3,198,525 — $1.20 — —
2023 2,560,095 4,157,753 545,343 61,533 $3,002,727 — $1.17 — —
2022 2,250,535 3,273,214 520,151 58,291 $2,727,412 — $1.21 — —
2021 480,984 799,689 495,949 48,775 $2,040,783 — $4.24 — —
2020 2,851,446 4,480,535 659,210 73,375 $3,071,286 $5,924,669 $1.08 $-1.00 192.9%
2019 3,362,828 5,207,921 688,242 76,789 $3,201,023 $6,048,477 $0.95 $-0.85 189%
2018 3,506,210 5,126,387 675,418 76,179 $3,138,532 $5,558,105 $0.90 $-0.69 177.1%
2017 3,327,651 6,297,295 714,974 73,714 $2,706,329 $5,350,953 $0.81 $-0.79 197.7%
2016 3,220,567 6,523,056 754,190 72,245 $2,512,414 $5,071,572 $0.78 $-0.79 201.9%
2015 3,149,045 5,206,083 728,930 72,237 $5,689,802 $4,870,898 $1.81 $0.26 85.6%