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TRANSIT EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY 1996 (Four Modes)
-- © LRN - Jul 10, 2000

Twenty three U.S. transit systems are compared in "ANNUAL PASSENGER PER EMPLOYEE" and "ANNUAL PASSENGER-MILES PER EMPLOYEE" by four categories: BUS, LIGHT RAIL, RAPID RAIL, and REGIONAL RAIL. These tables show that employee rail productivity is higher in almost all categories than bus transit, both nationally and for individual systems as well.

TEN YEAR TRANSIT PRODUCTIVITY RECORD 1986 -1996

PASSENGERS: 1986--1996 Percent Change

Urban Bus 5.753 billion 4.912 billion -14.6%
Commuter (Regional) Rail 0.306 billion 0.353 billion +15.4%
Rail Rapid Transit 2.333 billion 2.157 billion -7.5%
Light Rail Transit 0.130 billion 0.261 billion +100.8 %
Trolley buses 0.139 billion 0.117 billion -15.8%
TRANSIT TOTAL 8.661 billion 7.800 billion -9.9 %

PASSENGER-MILES:

Urban Bus 21.395 billion 18.861 billion -11.8%
Commuter (Regional) Rail 6.723 billion 8,371 billion +24.5%
Rail Rapid Transit 10.649 billion 11.530 billion +8.3%
Light Rail Transit 0.361 billion 0.954 billion +l64.3%
Trolley buses 0.305 billion 0.184 billion -39.7%
TRANSIT TOTAL 39.433 billion 39.900 billion +1.2%

TRANSIT VEHICLE MILES:

Urban Bus 2,002,300,000 2,165,100,000 +8.1%
Commuter (Regional) Rail 188,600,000 242,000,000 +28.3%
Rail Rapid Transit 475,800,000 543,100,000 +12.4%
Light Rail Transit 17,000,000 37,500,000 +120.6%
Trolley buses 14,700,000 13,700,000 -6.8%
TRANSIT TOTAL 2,698,400,000 3,001,400,000 +11.2%

FTE EMPLOYEES:

Urban Bus 165,839 177,299 +6.9%
Commuter (Regional) Rail 22,414 22,293 -0.5%
Rail Rapid Transit 51,028 46,793 -10.3%
Light Rail Transit 3,511 5,841 +66.4%
Trolley buses 2,140 2,084 -2.6%
TRANSIT TOTAL 244,932 253,310 +3.4%

PASSENGER-MILES PER EMPLOYEE:

Urban Bus 129,011 106,380 -17.5%
Commuter (Regional) Rail 299,946 375,499 +25.2%
Rail Rapid Transit 208,689 251,785 +20.7%
Light Rail Transit 102,820 163,328 +58.8%
Trolley buses 142,523 88,292 -38.1%
TRANSIT TOTAL 160,996 157,515 -2.2%

COST OF OPERATION & MAINTENANCE:

Urban Bus $7,386,856,000 $10,659,700,000 +44.3%
Commuter (Regional) Rail $1,518,659,000 $2,295,500,000 +51.2%
Rail Rapid Transit $3,192,421,000 $3,404,900,00O +6.6%
Light Rail Transit $168,640,000 $446,800,000 +164.9%
Trolley buses $92,191,000 $134,700,000 +46.1%
TRANSIT TOTAL $12,358,767,000 $16,938,600,000 +37.1%

COST PER PASSENGER-MILE

Urban Bus 34.5¢ 56.5¢ +63,8%
Commuter (Regional) Rail 22.6¢ 27.4¢ +21.2%
Rail Rapid Transit 30.0¢ 29.5¢ -1.7 %
Light Rail Transit 46.7¢ 46.8¢ +0.2%
Trolley buses 30.2¢ 73.2¢ +142.4%
TRANSIT TOTAL 31.3¢ 42.5¢ +3.8 %

automated guideways, cable cars, monorails

Cost per passenger-mile 47.0¢ 47.1¢ + 0.2%

FARE REVENUE:

Urban Bus $2,756,006,000 $ 3,448,800,000 +25.1%
Commuter (Regional) Rail $683,747,000 $1,144,800,000 +67.4%
Rail Rapid Transit $1,478,847,000 $2,321,500,000 +57.0%
Light Rail Transit $49,677,000 $144,200,000 +190.3%
Trolley buses $31,723,000 $54,700,000 +72.4%
TRANSIT TOTAL $ 5,000,000,000 $7,114,000,000 +42.3%
Cost of Living index 109.6 155 +41.4%

SOURCE: American Public Transit Association 1998 FACT BOOK

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