Wave Transit

Bus at Wave Transit

Wave Transit carried 659,875 bus boardings in FY2024 at $13.55 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Bus Wilmington, NC
FY2024 boardings
659.9K
-1.3% vs FY2023
Cost per ride
$13.55
+11% nationwide $8.24
Subsidy per ride
$11.26
+10.3% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
16.9%
+3.4% nationwide 11%
Passenger miles
1.86M
average trip 2.82 miles
Operating cost
$8.94M
Vehicles in service
25
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
8.68
76K 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
Purchased transportation 659,875 1,859,396 75,990 $8,940,158 $13.55 $11.26 16.9% 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 Wave Transit reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2024 659,875 1,859,396 1,076,989 75,990 $8,940,158 $1,508,909 $13.55 $11.26 16.9%
2023 668,499 1,883,696 1,137,691 78,432 $8,159,994 $1,332,302 $12.21 $10.21 16.3%
2022 663,127 1,868,559 1,164,173 77,230 $6,885,926 $1,326,735 $10.38 $8.38 19.3%
2021 528,115 1,488,123 1,047,692 74,791 $6,873,358 $905,044 $13.01 $11.30 13.2%
2020 1,114,998 3,121,204 1,168,111 81,793 $6,982,494 $1,224,812 $6.26 $5.16 17.5%
2019 1,194,745 3,362,500 1,154,624 81,686 $7,180,538 $1,620,427 $6.01 $4.65 22.6%
2018 1,306,099 3,680,587 1,202,533 85,615 $6,926,980 $1,660,039 $5.30 $4.03 24%
2017 1,359,911 3,831,924 1,201,922 85,636 $6,516,506 $1,633,438 $4.79 $3.59 25.1%
2016 1,393,573 5,349,066 1,223,022 86,498 $6,978,971 $1,668,188 $5.01 $3.81 23.9%
2015 1,476,773 5,664,864 1,224,992 86,981 $7,089,409 $1,359,286 $4.80 $3.88 19.2%