San Diego Metropolitan Transit System

Commuter Bus at San Diego Metropolitan Transit System

San Diego Metropolitan Transit System carried 114,617 commuter bus boardings in FY2025 at $17.28 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Commuter Bus San Diego, CA
FY2025 boardings
114.6K
+8.4% vs FY2024
Cost per ride
$17.28
-6.1% nationwide $24.15
Subsidy per ride
$13.98
-8.1% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
19.1%
+10.2% nationwide 26.5%
Passenger miles
2.71M
average trip 23.66 miles
Operating cost
$1.98M
Vehicles in service
9
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
15.35
7.5K 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 commuter 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 114,617 2,711,506 7,469 $1,980,320 $17.28 $13.98 19.1% 9

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 San Diego Metropolitan Transit System reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2025 114,617 2,711,506 210,952 7,469 $1,980,320 $377,896 $17.28 $13.98 19.1%
2024 105,696 2,609,864 207,690 7,353 $1,944,112 $336,687 $18.39 $15.21 17.3%
2023 102,064 2,553,990 208,353 7,377 $1,951,564 $346,751 $19.12 $15.72 17.8%
2022 79,098 1,826,720 202,532 7,145 $1,643,114 $212,806 $20.77 $18.08 13%
2021 34,017 887,798 167,598 5,860 $1,269,249 $230,630 $37.31 $30.53 18.2%
2020 207,372 5,114,822 287,136 9,824 $2,161,480 $699,562 $10.42 $7.05 32.4%
2019 281,240 6,848,690 342,662 11,719 $2,503,342 $1,172,721 $8.90 $4.73 46.8%
2018 283,135 6,917,513 342,749 11,657 $2,384,988 $1,197,246 $8.42 $4.19 50.2%
2017 287,252 7,039,114 343,297 11,357 $2,255,518 $1,196,656 $7.85 $3.69 53.1%
2016 291,969 6,916,878 350,017 11,562 $2,186,845 $1,242,792 $7.49 $3.23 56.8%
2015 303,940 6,787,498 344,334 11,255 $2,393,711 $1,251,705 $7.88 $3.76 52.3%