Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority

Heavy Rail at Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority carried 54,877,338 heavy rail boardings in FY2024 at $5.26 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Heavy Rail Philadelphia, PA
← All of Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
FY2024 boardings
54.9M
-5.3% vs FY2023
Cost per ride
$5.26
+26.8% nationwide $4.35
Subsidy per ride
$4.37
+33.9% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
16.8%
-20.8% nationwide 32.6%
Passenger miles
224M
average trip 4.08 miles
Operating cost
$288.5M
Vehicles in service
215
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
49.02
1.12M 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 heavy rail 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 54,877,338 223,995,150 1,119,586 $288,544,426 $5.26 $4.37 16.8% 215

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 Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2024 54,877,338 223,995,150 14,833,229 1,119,586 $288,544,426 $48,484,114 $5.26 $4.37 16.8%
2023 57,976,426 242,101,133 15,034,666 1,111,894 $240,404,145 $51,017,856 $4.15 $3.27 21.2%
2022 52,499,263 219,803,311 15,691,660 1,024,991 $212,247,719 $53,638,079 $4.04 $3.02 25.3%
2021 28,642,836 126,097,585 16,213,547 962,155 $206,672,297 $34,560,566 $7.22 $6.01 16.7%
2020 71,064,786 314,489,396 16,089,713 941,080 $200,558,724 $86,166,256 $2.82 $1.61 43%
2019 90,754,189 399,537,395 17,078,643 933,376 $200,486,444 $113,235,243 $2.21 $0.96 56.5%
2018 94,005,114 359,405,111 16,971,260 927,014 $200,674,425 $113,037,368 $2.13 $0.93 56.3%
2017 93,879,889 344,859,706 16,799,585 906,207 $202,060,773 $101,684,198 $2.15 $1.07 50.3%
2016 101,883,835 452,194,921 17,265,382 932,000 $197,091,759 $107,112,684 $1.93 $0.88 54.3%
2015 100,747,758 443,501,707 17,112,209 880,519 $188,649,160 $107,075,638 $1.87 $0.81 56.8%