Short Line

Commuter Bus at Short Line

Short Line carried 1,917,534 commuter bus boardings in FY2025 at $18.75 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Commuter Bus Mahwah, NJ
← All of Short Line
FY2025 boardings
1.92M
-0.6% vs FY2024
Cost per ride
$18.75
+13% nationwide $24.15
Subsidy per ride
$4.40
+32% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
76.5%
-4.2% nationwide 26.5%
Passenger miles
97.5M
average trip 50.83 miles
Operating cost
$35.9M
Vehicles in service
78
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
16.39
117K 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
Directly operated 1,917,534 97,468,253 117,015 $35,949,196 $18.75 $4.40 76.5% 78

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 Short Line reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2025 1,917,534 97,468,253 4,388,061 117,015 $35,949,196 $27,513,065 $18.75 $4.40 76.5%
2024 1,929,039 98,053,052 4,293,693 96,487 $32,010,500 $25,579,634 $16.59 $3.33 79.9%
2023 1,832,789 93,151,932 4,265,602 95,900 $32,495,355 $22,762,223 $17.73 $5.31 70%
2022 1,571,923 71,580,200 3,913,235 87,938 $29,805,591 $18,751,919 $18.96 $7.03 62.9%
2021 834,360 37,996,484 2,673,109 60,070 $21,106,833 $9,276,129 $25.30 $14.18 43.9%
2020 1,018,765 46,367,803 3,369,249 73,905 $24,372,007 $11,266,651 $23.92 $12.86 46.2%
2019 4,061,438 184,866,906 9,873,939 220,044 $53,935,697 $45,763,311 $13.28 $2.01 84.8%
2018 4,309,984 196,203,402 9,399,351 211,638 $52,080,217 $48,095,271 $12.08 $0.92 92.3%
2017 4,391,709 199,921,458 9,578,820 215,746 $57,711,165 $52,302,339 $13.14 $1.23 90.6%
2016 4,347,969 200,249,962 9,472,407 214,759 $50,541,122 $54,718,327 $11.62 $-0.96 108.3%
2015 4,360,967 0 9,447,524 210,984 $53,344,905 $48,382,672 $12.23 $1.14 90.7%