2011 Minnesota Transit Systems Cost Per Ride Comparison

Every year the Minnesota Department of Transportation Transit division publishes an annual report providing an overview of Minnesota public transit systems. This report includes a concise and simple look at each system operating in the state, including achievements or highlights, system information, ridership, and expenditures.

Towards the end of the report, operating statistics for each system are provided in a table format. While this is somewhat useful for comparing one specific system against another, or comparing Twin City area operators, it's not ranked specifically by cost per ride. To get a better idea of how Minnesota transit compares on a cost per ride basis, here are Twin Cities Metropolitan area systems compared with greater Minnesota urbanized area systems. A few smaller systems are included as well with an overall focus being on fixed-route service.

2011 Cost Per Ride Comparison for Minnesota Fixed-Route Transit Providers
Provider	Operating Expenditures	Ridership	Cost/Ride
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA TRANSIT	$5,375,406	3,533,871	1.52
WINONA TRANSIT SERVICE*	$601,026	251,721	2.39
METRO TRANSIT: LRT	$25,755,340	10,400,864	2.48
ST. CLOUD METRO BUS	$6,047,630	2,286,392	2.65
ROCHESTER PUBLIC TRANSIT	$5,150,838	1,645,272	3.13
MOORHEAD METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT	$1,476,225	432,703	3.41
METRO TRANSIT: BUS	$240,340,513	69,023,716	3.48
DULUTH TRANSIT AUTHORITY	$11,733,880	3,081,791	3.81
GREATER MANKATO TRANSIT SYSTEM	$1,504,091	363,401	4.14
METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION SERVICES	$12,921,070	2,928,301	4.41
MAPLE GROVE TRANSIT	$4,129,402	801,442	5.15
MINNESOTA VALLEY TRANSIT AUTHORITY	$17,369,699	2,588,183	6.71
RAMSEY STAR EXPRESS	$377,505	54,097	6.98
SOUTHWEST TRANSIT	$7,401,936	1,030,018	7.19
PLYMOUTH METROLINK	$3,871,010	515,522	7.51
METRO VAN POOL**	$1,481,345	189,825	7.80
EAST GRAND FORKS TRANSIT***	$252,736	28,789	8.78
LA CRESCENT APPLE EXPRESS****	$262,064	25,996	10.08
SHAKOPEE TRANSIT	$1,202,226	116,595	10.31
LAKER LINES	$950,770	87,213	10.90
RUSH LINE	$405,739	32,410	12.52
TRANSIT LINK**	$6,774,245	329,857	20.54
METRO TRANSIT: NORTHSTAR	$15,636,739	703,427	22.23
Notes: *Winona operates service under contract for WSU and St. Marys  **Not fixed-route service, included due to being part of overall Twin Cities Metro area system structure  ***EGFT service operated under contract by Cities Area Transit  ****Apple Express operated under contract by La Crosse MTU
Source: 2012 Transit Report - A Guide to Minnesota’s Public Transit Systems (MnDot)
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/transit/reports/transitreports/12/index-2012.html