Federal funds applied to transit are Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Urbanized Area Formula Program funds (financial assistance used to offset operating costs and pay for capital projects) and other Federal funds.
Unlinked passenger trips are the number of patrons boarding public transportation vehicles.
Ridership (*) increased by 20.3 percent from 1989 to 2008. During the same period, Federal assistance applied to transit increased by nearly 60 percent (constant 2000 dollars).
Figure 1: Federal Funds Applied to Transit 1989 – 2008
Figure 2: Unlinked Passenger Trips 1989 – 2008
(*) Note: Unlinked passenger trips were adjusted for all years prior to 2007 to correct a bias reported by a large heavy rail operator.
Transit agencies that receive or benefit from Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Urbanized Area Formula Program funds (capital or operating) are required to report selected transit data to the National Transit Database (NTD) program. In addition, transit agencies not receiving FTA funds are encouraged to submit data, providing a more complete picture of public transit throughout the United States. These transit agencies report financial (capital and operating) data and non-financial operating statistics by transit mode. A total of 694 transit agencies reported data in 2008.
The number of bus systems increased in the last 10 years (67 new systems).
Demand response increased by nearly 15 percent (61 new systems) over the same period, reflecting the need to continue providing special transit service for elderly individuals and individuals with disabilities.
Vanpool increased by 55 percent (22 new systems) during the 10 year period.
Figure 3: Number of Agencies Reporting by Mode 2007 – 2008
Figure 4: Number of Agencies Reporting by Mode 1999 – 2008
Table 1: Number of Agencies Reporting by Year by Mode between 1999 - 2008 |
|||||||
Year |
Bus * |
Demand Response * |
Vanpool * |
Heavy Rail |
Commuter Rail |
Light Rail |
Other Modes * |
1999 |
437 |
413 |
40 |
14 |
18 |
20 |
33 |
2000 |
433 |
416 |
42 |
14 |
20 |
21 |
31 |
2001 |
448 |
432 |
43 |
14 |
21 |
23 |
31 |
2002 |
456 |
423 |
42 |
14 |
19 |
23 |
31 |
2003 |
463 |
433 |
47 |
14 |
19 |
25 |
31 |
2004 |
471 |
441 |
43 |
14 |
19 |
27 |
31 |
2005 |
476 |
449 |
51 |
15 |
20 |
27 |
30 |
2006 |
491 |
464 |
52 |
15 |
20 |
27 |
28 |
2007 |
497 |
473 |
57 |
15 |
21 |
26 |
30 |
2008 |
504 |
474 |
62 |
15 |
22 |
29 |
34 |
Actual Change |
67 |
61 |
22 |
1 |
4 |
9 |
1 |
(*) Data does not include agencies receiving nine or fewer vehicles waiver.
Vehicle revenue miles are the miles a transit vehicle travels while in revenue service. A transit vehicle is in revenue service when the vehicle is available to the public with the expectation of carrying passengers. Passengers pay full fares, reduced fares (senior citizen, student, special ride fares, etc.), or provide payment through some contractual agreement.
Deadhead travel is not included in vehicle revenue miles. Deadhead mileage consists of the miles a transit vehicle travels while not in revenue service (leaving or returning to the garage or yard or changing routes).
Vehicle revenue miles increased by nearly 25.2 percent between 1999 and 2008 over all modes. Modes showing the most significant growth are those that had an increase in the number of systems in operation during the period.
Light rail – 4.9 percent
Demand response – 6.7 percent
Vanpool – 22.7 percent
Figure 5: Vehicle Revenue Miles by Mode 2007 – 2008 (Millions)
Figure 6: Vehicle Revenue Miles by Mode 1999 – 2008 (Millions)
Table 2: Vehicle Revenue Miles (Millions) 1999 - 2008 |
|||
Year |
Vehicle Revenue Miles (Millions) |
Year |
Vehicle Revenue Miles (Millions) |
1999 |
3,111 |
2004 |
3,548 |
2000 |
3,202 |
2005 |
3,602 |
2001 |
3,319 |
2006 |
3,671 |
2002 |
3,427 |
2007 |
3,769 |
2003 |
3,476 |
2008 |
3,894 |
|
|
% Change |
25.2 |
Ridership increased by over 18 percent from 1999 to 2008.
Figure 7: Unlinked Passenger Trips by Mode 2007 – 2008 (Millions)
(*) 2006 data
adjusted to correct a bias reported by a large heavy rail operator.
Figure 8: Unlinked Passenger Trips by Mode 1999 – 2008 (Millions)
The share of vehicle revenue miles for demand response has decreased from slightly more than 17.7 percent in 1999 to 13.4 percent in 2008 while the share of vehicle revenue miles for bus increased from 50 percent to 55 percent.
At the same time, the share of unlinked passenger trips for demand response remained below 1 percent, illustrating the low capacity nature of this service, while the share of unlinked passenger trips for bus decreased from 59 percent in 1999 to 53 percent in 2008.
|
|
|
|
(*) 1998 data adjusted to correct a bias reported by a large heavy rail operator.
Urbanized areas (as defined by the U.S. Census) are geographic areas with a population of 50,000 or more. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there are 465 urbanized areas. For National Transit Database purposes, the NTST groups urbanized areas by three size categories:
Large urbanized areas: population of more than 1 million (37 urbanized areas, 219 agencies or 33 percent of all agencies reporting).
Medium urbanized areas: population of more than 200,000 and less than 1 million (113 urbanized areas and 166 agencies or 25 percent of all agencies reporting).
Small urbanized areas: population of less than 200,000 and more than 50,000 (315 urbanized areas, 286 agencies or 43 percent of all agencies reporting).
National Transit Database data are highly concentrated in large urbanized areas. The reported data most heavily concentrated in large urbanized areas are:
Figure 13: Relative Impact of the Data by UZA Size Group – 2008
Rural areas are, by US Census definition, areas with a population of less than 50,000. Because these areas may be quite large, rural areas usually have low population density. For report year 2008, 1,391 sub recipients (including 54 intercity bus subrecipients) submitted data to the NTD through their State Departments of Transportation incorporating data for 2,298 out of 3,162 counties nationwide.
Types of service in the Rural module correspond to the modes included in the Annual (urban, over 50,000 population) module but bus is broken down into four categories (fixed route, deviated fixed route, fixed and deviated and private intercity bus service). For definitions of modes and types of service refer to the NTD Glossary available at www.NTDprogram.gov.
Due to the low population density of rural areas, types of service such as demand response and bus – deviated fixed route are the most common in rural transit and accounted for 79 percent of all rural service in 2008.
Figure 14: Types of Rural Service – 2008
Sources of funds (operating and capital) include assistance (local, state and federal and funds generated by the service providers (fares and contract revenues).
FTA funding categories available for Rural Transit are:
Rural transit operating budgets required 71 percent from federal, state and local assistance, and 29 percent from directly generated funds.
Rural transit capital budgets relied mostly on Federal assistance, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all capital applied.
Table 3: Rural Service Supplied and Consumed - 2008 |
|
Fare Revenues (Millions) |
$86.9 |
Operating Expenses (Millions) |
$1,110.1 |
Unlinked Passenger Trips (Millions) |
110.9 |
Vehicle Miles (Millions) |
477.6 |
Vehicle Hours (Millions) |
31 |
Operating Expenses per Vehicle Mile |
$2.3 |
Operating Expenses per Vehicle Hour |
$35.8 |
Operating Expenses per Unlinked Passenger Trip |
$10 |
Recovery Ratio (Fare Revenues per Operating Expense) |
8% |
Rural performance measures are typical of service provided in low density areas such as low recovery ratios, and high cost per trip among others.
Table 4: Rural Safety |
|||
Total Number of Subrecipients |
Safety Incidents |
Average Safety Incidents per Subrecipient |
|
Major Incidents |
1,414 |
1,149 |
.81 |
Major Injuries |
1,414 |
273 |
.19 |
Fatalities |
1,414 |
20 |
.0014 |
