THE WAVE TRANSIT SYSTEM

Bus at THE WAVE TRANSIT SYSTEM

THE WAVE TRANSIT SYSTEM carried 557,236 bus boardings in FY2024 at $16.76 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Bus Mobile, AL
FY2024 boardings
557.2K
+10.8% vs FY2023
Cost per ride
$16.76
+1.7% nationwide $8.24
Subsidy per ride
$15.87
+2% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
5.3%
-4.6% nationwide 11%
Passenger miles
3.54M
average trip 6.35 miles
Operating cost
$9.34M
Vehicles in service
20
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
6.92
80.6K 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 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, 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 557,236 3,538,449 80,558 $9,341,109 $16.76 $15.87 5.3% 20

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 WAVE TRANSIT SYSTEM reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2024 557,236 3,538,449 1,103,790 80,558 $9,341,109 $496,297 $16.76 $15.87 5.3%
2023 502,974 3,193,885 1,086,553 77,960 $8,292,330 $461,724 $16.49 $15.57 5.6%
2022 438,510 2,921,180 1,103,079 81,362 $7,931,317 $439,671 $18.09 $17.08 5.5%
2021 452,069 2,987,678 1,058,632 76,884 $7,095,910 $323,655 $15.70 $14.98 4.6%
2020 634,162 4,191,176 1,014,005 75,669 $7,522,794 $334,903 $11.86 $11.33 4.5%
2019 849,876 5,617,680 1,003,561 79,264 $7,350,340 $625,221 $8.65 $7.91 8.5%
2018 850,598 5,621,757 1,063,780 76,679 $7,591,657 $585,706 $8.93 $8.24 7.7%
2017 858,616 5,709,796 1,189,763 77,396 $7,021,009 $633,079 $8.18 $7.44 9%
2016 1,029,035 6,848,125 1,244,689 93,258 $7,143,094 $702,565 $6.94 $6.26 9.8%
2015 1,137,767 7,571,839 1,324,169 95,180 $7,535,343 $758,316 $6.62 $5.96 10.1%