The 10 US metro systems that lose the most money per passenger

Business Insider ^ | 06/04/2015 | ALISON BURKE, THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION

[SeekAndFind]

Though many public transit systems across the U.S. have increased fares in recent years, chances are your local transit system still isn’t breaking even on your ride: According to a Hamilton Project (THP) post, of the more than 1,800 mass transit systems in the United States—including those running trains, buses, or other transport modes—only about two percent reported that fare revenue exceeded operating expenses in 2013.

And when it comes to metro rail systems across the U.S.—which include heavy rail, such as subways and elevated trains, and light rail, which operates at street level—all U.S. systems reported operating at a loss.

So just how much money are they losing? In general, average losses per trip are smaller for larger metro systems. For instance, riders in the five largest systems—New York, Washington, DC, Boston, Chicago, and the San Francisco Bay Area—pay about a dollar less than the actual cost of each trip. But when it comes to the smaller systems in cities like Seattle, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh, riders end up paying approximately four dollars less than the cost of each trip.

Overall, these 10 metro rail systems are losing the most money per passenger ride:

10. Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFT Metro), NY Average loss per passenger ride: $2.83

9. Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), MD Average loss per passenger ride: $2.90

8. San Francisco Municipal Railway (MUNI), CA Average loss per passenger ride: $3.13

7. The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA), OH Average loss per passenger ride: $3.23

[Buckeye McFrog]

Well removing a lane for a train is stupid.

Pittsburgh's very liberal Mayor is doing it for bicycles.

[BJ1]

They have bike lanes in Chicago where I live. I really fail to see how it helps (bicyclists) more than it hurts (cars). Especially considering we have bad weather here.

[martin_fierro]

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[Flying Circus]

Doesn’t surprise me one bit. I only rode it a few times as a way to avoid parking at the airport. It was mostly empty each time. I understand they spend something like 95% of the Santa Clara transportation budget on a system that 2% of the people actually use.

[Flying Circus]

Not that easy. Ridership is low because the ticket prices are already a poor value. Raising prices will reduce demand more than increase revenue.

When I was in the Bay Area I lived a few blocks from the VTA station, and my office was a few blocks from the station at the other end. My employer in their progressive wisdom even offered subsidized passes so that the cost to me to use the light rail was almost zero. I still wouldn’t use the system because it wasn’t worth it to me to spend and hour each way riding when I could drive it in about 15 minutes. An hour and a half of my life is worth far more than the cost of driving a few miles each way.

[Vendome]

I lived right down the street from the one on Trimble and 1st.

Sucked.

Way faster to just take my car and pay for parking downtown, which in San Jose costs almost nothing....

Time is worth more than money and is the truest non-renewable resource....

[Flying Circus]

You got it. I worked at a large campus in south San Jose (IBM Cottle rd) so I didn’t even have parking hassles to worry about.