The COMET

Demand Response at The COMET

The COMET carried 73,954 demand response boardings in FY2025 at $78.60 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Demand Response Columbia, SC
FY2025 boardings
74K
+87.8% vs FY2024
Cost per ride
$78.60
-45% nationwide $52.35
Subsidy per ride
$75.64
-46.2% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
3.8%
+115.7% nationwide 6.7%
Passenger miles
831K
average trip 11.24 miles
Operating cost
$5.81M
Vehicles in service
17
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
1.92
38.6K 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
Purchased transportation - taxi — — — — — — — —
Purchased transportation - taxi — — — — — — — —
Purchased transportation 73,954 831,019 38,581 $5,812,692 $78.60 $75.64 3.8% 17

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 The COMET reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2025 73,954 831,019 625,212 38,581 $5,812,692 $219,168 $78.60 $75.64 3.8%
2024 39,376 773,517 542,195 29,908 $5,630,546 $98,440 $142.99 $140.49 1.7%
2023 140,239 895,475 697,446 39,835 $5,751,358 $797,053 $41.01 $35.33 13.9%
2022 86,311 681,838 656,071 39,138 $5,756,730 $344,219 $66.70 $62.71 6%
2021 55,424 696,110 570,849 31,892 $6,367,861 $99,333 $114.89 $113.10 1.6%
2020 87,480 795,681 649,868 40,633 $4,290,836 $368,814 $49.05 $44.83 8.6%
2019 77,494 963,885 771,206 38,923 $4,152,738 $276,189 $53.59 $50.02 6.7%
2018 72,815 843,604 636,538 33,054 $2,948,688 $216,946 $40.50 $37.52 7.4%
2017 63,999 827,063 678,205 39,283 $3,475,003 $214,735 $54.30 $50.94 6.2%
2016 63,410 806,891 666,982 38,568 $3,207,509 $200,682 $50.58 $47.42 6.3%
2015 57,418 726,929 587,769 34,257 $2,919,394 $211,083 $50.84 $47.17 7.2%