Largest U.S. transit agencies based on passenger trips

In 2021, the public transport authority with the highest ridership in the United States was by far the MTA New York City Transit with more than 1.7 billion passenger trips. The Chicago Transit Authority had the second highest ridership at 196 million unlinked trips.

A Slow Year For Transit

The numbers for unlinked passenger trips reported for 2021 for the largest U.S. transit authorities may seem large, but the total number of unlinked passenger trips declined significantly from 2019, due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. From 9.92 billion total unlinked passenger trips in 2019, this number fell to 4.71 billion in 2020, a near 50 percent decrease. After 2020, the numbers of unlinked passenger trips look to be on the rise, reaching about 7.11 billion in 2023.

Buses Win the Race

Of the 7.11 billion unlinked passenger trips on public transport in 2023, nearly half were by bus. A further 37 percent were by heavy rail. The remaining 14 percent of public transport trips were largely made up of trips by light rail and commuter rail.

10 largest U.S. transit agencies based on unlinked passenger trips in 2021 (in millions)

Transit agency City and state	Unlinked passenger trips in millions
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Release date

April 2024

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Region

United States

Survey time period

2021

Supplementary notes

Unlinked passenger trips are defined as the number of passengers who board public transportation vehicles. Passengers are counted each time they board vehicles no matter how many vehicles they use to travel from their origin to their destination.
Includes only transit agencies reporting to Federal Transit Administration FY 2009 National Transit Database.
Data are collected and calculated for report years. A report year is each transit agency's fiscal year that ends during a calendar year.

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