Worcester Regional Transit Authority

Demand Response at Worcester Regional Transit Authority

Worcester Regional Transit Authority carried 227,971 demand response boardings in FY2025 at $34.26 per ride. Ten years of National Transit Database figures for this service, with safety, reliability and the national comparison.

Demand Response Worcester, MA
FY2025 boardings
228K
+8.2% vs FY2024
Cost per ride
$34.26
+1.8% nationwide $52.35
Subsidy per ride
$33.94
+1.9% operating cost less fares
Fare recovery
0.9%
-9.1% nationwide 6.7%
Passenger miles
1.18M
average trip 5.18 miles
Operating cost
$7.81M
Vehicles in service
53
at maximum service
Rides per revenue hour
2.37
96.2K 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 110,132 644,492 44,973 $3,243,401 $29.45 $28.79 2.2% 34
Purchased transportation - taxi 74,536 288,603 32,425 $1,631,788 $21.89 — — 10
Directly operated 43,303 248,122 18,840 $2,935,149 $67.78 — — 9

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 Worcester Regional Transit Authority reported this service.

Year Boardings Passenger miles Revenue miles Revenue hours Operating cost Fares Cost / ride Subsidy / ride Fare recovery
2025 227,971 1,181,217 1,439,744 96,238 $7,810,338 $72,908 $34.26 $33.94 0.9%
2024 210,753 1,097,423 1,383,683 90,732 $7,091,756 $72,799 $33.65 $33.30 1%
2023 197,948 1,037,237 1,296,169 83,305 $6,606,914 $70,475 $33.38 $33.02 1.1%
2022 141,273 781,135 992,331 66,115 $5,416,848 — $38.34 — —
2021 98,304 519,886 799,840 55,047 $4,910,843 — $49.96 — —
2020 141,951 775,498 951,388 66,267 $5,726,650 $274,945 $40.34 $38.41 4.8%
2019 180,596 1,032,862 1,149,799 77,790 $5,392,308 $353,705 $29.86 $27.90 6.6%
2018 184,572 1,046,071 1,156,178 79,868 $5,326,480 $376,044 $28.86 $26.82 7.1%
2017 191,681 1,088,838 1,232,113 83,198 $5,111,117 $329,239 $26.66 $24.95 6.4%
2016 190,989 1,114,521 1,215,556 82,601 $5,041,676 $314,170 $26.40 $24.75 6.2%
2015 147,719 795,771 963,206 61,029 $4,270,873 $284,549 $28.91 $26.99 6.7%