University of Iowa

Bus at University of Iowa

University of Iowa carried 2,582,364 bus boardings in FY2024 at $1.68 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Bus Iowa City, IA
FY2024 boardings
2.58M
+2.6% vs FY2023
Cost per ride
$1.68
+1.4% nationwide $8.24
Subsidy per ride
operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
nationwide 11%
Passenger miles
3.76M
average trip 1.46 miles
Operating cost
$4.33M
Vehicles in service
25
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
44.05
58.6K 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 2,582,364 3,762,372 58,628 $4,330,077 $1.68 25

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 University of Iowa reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2024 2,582,364 3,762,372 565,738 58,628 $4,330,077 $1.68
2023 2,516,927 3,665,791 573,797 59,080 $4,161,616 $1.65
2022 2,353,345 3,301,559 625,508 64,980 $3,751,241 $1.59
2021 1,362,728 1,911,301 666,390 66,890 $3,754,069 $2.75
2020 2,781,354 3,903,112 620,325 64,273 $3,430,851 $1.23
2019 3,465,918 4,863,262 700,271 71,948 $3,326,227 $0.96
2018 3,689,290 5,174,411 699,641 71,655 $3,226,490 $0.87
2017 3,977,395 5,579,399 689,815 70,975 $3,057,193 $1,600,098 $0.77 $0.37 52.3%
2016 4,446,672 6,136,407 732,843 72,421 $2,896,305 $1,543,163 $0.65 $0.30 53.3%
2015 4,481,383 6,184,309 697,532 68,682 $2,967,693 $1,456,572 $0.66 $0.34 49.1%