Total annual boardings across all transit agencies in the Bay Area were 360 million in fiscal year 2025-26
was the average annual boardings per capita on Bay Area transit in fiscal year 2025-26
In fiscal year 2025-26, total annual boardings across all transit agencies in the Bay Area were 72% of the levels seen in fiscal year 2018-19
Introduction
How much are Bay Area residents riding transit?
The Bay Area’s buses, trains, ferries, cable cars and streetcars help people get around, especially those who do not have a car or cannot drive. They also give car owners another way to travel. Transit reduces traffic and shortens travel times on roadways and helps lower greenhouse gas emissions. It also connects people to jobs, schools and recreational activities, making it easier to reach places and opportunities throughout the region.
Regional Performance
Over the past few decades, Bay Area transit ridership has gone through periods of growth and decline. It fell dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been recovering since.
From 1990 through 2019, regional average annual transit ridership was approximately 492 million annual boardings, ranging from a low of 451 million in fiscal year 1994-95 to a high of 533 million in fiscal year 2015-16. Over the same period, regionwide annual boardings per capita declined from 79 to 65.
Transit ridership trends changed significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regional annual ridership fell to 127 million boardings in fiscal year 2020-21, about 25% of its fiscal year 2018-19 level, and recovered to 72% of pre-pandemic ridership by fiscal year 2025-26. Explore changes in transit ridership trends by mode and per capita in the chart below.
Average annual boardings from fiscal year 1990-91 through fiscal year 2018-19, before the pandemic
Annual boardings hit their pandemic low in fiscal year 2020-21
Historical Trend for Transit Ridership
Local Focus
Transit ridership trends over the past few decades have varied by transit agency and mode.
Since fiscal year 1990-91, buses have carried more riders than any other transit mode in the Bay Area. Annual bus ridership declined from 336 million boardings in fiscal year 1999-2000 to 273 million in fiscal year 2018-19, dropped to 101 million during the height of the pandemic in fiscal year 2020-21, and rebounded to 221 million in fiscal year 2025-26. Meanwhile, ridership on trains generally grew relative to bus ridership, increasing rail's share of regional transit trips.
Since fiscal year 1990-91, Muni, BART, AC Transit and VTA consistently have had the highest ridership. In fiscal year 2025-26, these four agencies accounted for 87% of all transit boardings in the region. Muni alone carried nearly half (48.6%) of all transit boardings that year.
on buses in the Bay Area in fiscal year 2025-26
Muni, BART, AC Transit and VTA together accounted for 87% of all transit boardings in the Bay Area in fiscal year 2025-26
Historical Trend For Transit Ridership by Agency and Annual Ridership
Sources & Methodology
Transit ridership data is sourced from the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) National Transit Database (NTD), the federally mandated repository of financial, operational and asset data for U.S. transit systems. Two NTD data products are used:
NTD Annual Reports (Service Data and Operating Expenses Time Series by Mode, TS2.1): fiscal-year totals of Unlinked Passenger Trips (UPT, i.e., boardings) by agency and mode. These figures are the most complete and accurate but lag current conditions by roughly two years.
NTD Monthly Ridership Estimates ("Complete Monthly Ridership with Adjustments and Estimates"): monthly UPT by agency and mode, available on a roughly two-month lag but covering fewer (and primarily larger) reporting agencies.
Ridership is reported on a fiscal year basis (July 1 to June 30), consistent with NTD reporting conventions for all Bay Area transit agencies. Vital Signs reports ridership data based primarily off the NTD annual ridership reports and supplemented by the monthly ridership estimates up to the most recent full fiscal year.
NTD's detailed mode codes are collapsed into seven categories as described below.
Bus includes fixed-route, rubber-tired transit service, including local bus, commuter bus, bus rapid transit and trolleybus. NTD modes: Motor Bus (MB), Commuter Bus (CB), Bus Rapid Transit (RB) and Trolleybus (TB).
Light Rail includes local urban rail service, including light rail, streetcars and cable cars. NTD modes: Light Rail (LR), Cable Car (CC) and Streetcar Rail (SR).
Commuter Rail includes regional passenger rail connecting central cities and outlying communities. NTD mode: Commuter Rail (CR).
Demand Response includes passenger-requested, non-fixed-route shared transportation, including paratransit and legacy demand-response taxi service. NTD modes: Demand Response (DR) and Demand Response Taxi (DT, discontinued).
Ferry includes waterborne public transit carrying passengers across or along waterways. NTD mode: Ferryboat (FB).
Heavy Rail includes high-capacity or guided rail transit, including heavy rail, monorail/automated guideway and hybrid rail. NTD modes: Heavy Rail (HR), Monorail/Automated Guideway (MG) and Hybrid Rail (YR).
Other includes legacy other-transit services and pre-arranged shared-ride vanpools not otherwise classified. NTD modes: Other Transit (OT, discontinued) and Vanpool (VP).
Federal Transit Administration: National Transit Database
NTD Annual Reports (1991 – 2014)
NTD Annual Reports (2015 – 2024)
NTD Monthly Estimates (2025 – 2026)
California Department of Finance: Population and Housing Estimates
Table E-4: Population Estimates for Counties and State (1970-2025)
Image: Joey Kotfica