The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority

Light Rail at The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority carried 808,055 light rail boardings in FY2024 at $17.13 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Light Rail Cleveland, OH
FY2024 boardings
808.1K
+22% vs FY2023
Cost per ride
$17.13
-12.7% nationwide $9.88
Subsidy per ride
$15.73
-12.8% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
8.1%
+1.3% nationwide 9.5%
Passenger miles
4.67M
average trip 5.77 miles
Operating cost
$13.8M
Vehicles in service
7
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
21.7
37.2K 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 light 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 808,055 4,665,719 37,230 $13,838,393 $17.13 $15.73 8.1% 7

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 Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2024 808,055 4,665,719 531,294 37,230 $13,838,393 $1,123,847 $17.13 $15.73 8.1%
2023 662,113 3,151,808 476,284 32,568 $12,985,416 $1,040,707 $19.61 $18.04 8%
2022 681,390 3,576,933 546,654 36,678 $10,264,526 $1,177,360 $15.06 $13.34 11.5%
2021 465,123 2,520,913 468,737 31,219 $9,235,149 $793,335 $19.86 $18.15 8.6%
2020 589,245 2,065,735 573,726 40,747 $11,662,694 $1,052,721 $19.79 $18.01 9%
2019 1,484,863 8,974,467 678,107 48,204 $14,906,274 $2,549,863 $10.04 $8.32 17.1%
2018 1,638,170 9,580,135 682,556 48,997 $12,119,266 $2,751,696 $7.40 $5.72 22.7%
2017 2,114,753 12,789,989 683,721 50,655 $12,741,916 $2,967,087 $6.03 $4.62 23.3%
2016 2,468,330 14,721,876 776,474 57,683 $13,539,245 $2,626,241 $5.49 $4.42 19.4%
2015 2,608,770 15,113,234 844,272 56,562 $13,536,632 $2,639,255 $5.19 $4.18 19.5%