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Table 4-3: Transit Ridership in the 50 Largest Urbanized Areas: 2008 and 2009

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Table 4-3: Transit Ridership in the 50 Largest Urbanized Areas: 2008 and 2009

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Urbanized area Population (2000) Rank by population Annual unlinked passenger trips (thousands) Percent in 2009 Percent in 2008
2009 2008 Motor bus Heavy rail Light rail Commuter rail Other Motor bus Heavy rail Light rail Commuter rail Other
New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT 17,799,861 1 4,011,536 4,147,176 31.1 60.9 0.5 6.5 1.0 30.9 61.2 0.5 6.4 0.9
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA 11,789,487 2 673,418 713,763 83.1 7.0 6.7 1.6 1.5 84.3 6.4 6.3 1.7 1.3
Chicago, IL-IN 8,307,904 3 632,972 650,267 55.2 32.0 0.0 11.9 0.9 56.1 30.5 0.0 12.5 0.9
Philadelphia, PA-NJ-DE-MD 5,149,079 4 340,245 350,687 48.8 30.1 8.5 10.3 2.3 49.6 28.9 9.3 10.5 1.8
Miami, FL 4,919,036 5 156,144 171,410 78.6 11.4 0.0 2.4 7.6 79.2 11.2 0.0 2.5 7.2
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 4,145,659 6 72,267 77,348 65.0 0.0 26.1 3.7 5.2 66.8 0.0 25.6 3.6 3.9
Boston, MA-NH-RI 4,032,484 7 379,220 392,785 30.1 38.4 19.5 10.1 1.9 29.3 38.3 20.5 10.1 1.9
Washington, DC-VA-MD 3,933,920 8 486,522 489,428 38.3 60.3 0.0 0.8 0.6 39.2 59.6 0.0 0.8 0.4
Detroit, MI 3,903,377 9 53,419 54,826 94.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.0 94.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.7
Houston, TX 3,822,509 10 85,673 96,583 81.9 0.0 13.3 0.0 4.9 84.2 0.0 12.1 0.0 3.8
Atlanta, GA 3,499,840 11 162,151 171,023 49.9 48.8 0.0 0.0 1.3 48.6 50.3 0.0 0.0 1.1
San Francisco-Oakland, CA 3,228,605 12 447,296 444,456 41.4 24.7 11.7 2.7 19.5 41.9 26.4 10.4 2.9 18.5
Phoenix-Mesa, AZ 2,907,049 13 73,266 66,840 81.5 0.0 15.5 0.0 3.0 97.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.1
Seattle, WA 2,712,205 14 188,380 193,197 69.4 0.0 2.0 1.3 27.2 69.5 0.0 0.7 1.4 28.5
San Diego, CA 2,674,436 15 96,624 104,188 63.1 0.0 34.6 1.4 0.9 61.0 0.0 36.3 1.6 1.0
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN 2,388,593 16 89,160 93,279 86.4 0.0 11.1 0.1 2.4 86.7 0.0 11.0 0.0 2.3
St. Louis, MO-IL 2,077,662 17 49,996 61,269 61.6 0.0 36.3 0.0 2.2 61.1 0.0 37.0 0.0 1.9
Baltimore, MD 2,076,354 18 120,925 117,033 73.8 10.9 7.4 6.7 1.2 73.3 11.8 6.9 6.9 1.1
Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL 2,062,339 19 25,803 28,140 96.3 0.0 1.8 0.0 1.9 96.7 0.0 1.6 0.0 1.7
Denver-Aurora, CO 1,984,889 20 98,733 103,452 78.4 0.0 20.0 0.0 1.6 79.0 0.0 19.9 0.0 1.0
Cleveland, OH 1,786,647 21 47,816 62,614 81.1 10.8 6.5 0.0 1.7 79.4 12.6 6.6 0.0 1.4
Pittsburgh, PA 1,753,136 22 69,255 70,201 85.1 0.0 10.3 0.0 4.6 85.0 0.0 10.4 0.0 4.6
Portland, OR-WA 1,583,138 23 106,867 110,706 64.8 0.0 33.7 0.3 1.3 66.4 0.0 32.3 0.0 1.2
San Jose, CA 1,538,312 24 44,360 46,651 74.9 0.0 22.8 0.0 2.3 74.6 0.0 23.1 0.0 2.3
Riverside-San Bernardino, CA 1,506,816 25 23,573 23,914 95.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.4 95.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.2
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN 1,503,262 26 22,899 25,654 98.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 98.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.8
Virginia Beach, VA 1,394,439 27 18,682 25,110 96.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 96.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.3
Sacramento, CA 1,393,498 28 39,090 40,134 55.9 0.0 42.9 0.0 1.2 56.8 0.0 42.0 0.0 1.2
Kansas City, MO-KS 1,361,744 29 16,157 17,821 96.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.9 96.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.8
San Antonio, TX 1,327,554 30 43,122 47,053 97.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.7 97.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.6
Las Vegas, NV 1,314,357 31 59,108 75,968 98.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.7 88.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 11.4
Milwaukee, WI 1,308,913 32 49,176 53,692 97.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.8 97.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.5
Indianapolis, IN 1,218,919 33 8,458 9,934 97.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.9 96.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.3
Providence, RI-MA 1,174,548 34 18,873 22,416 95.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.2 96.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.8
Orlando, FL 1,157,431 35 24,214 26,898 96.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.5 97.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0
Columbus, OH 1,133,193 36 16,872 16,630 98.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.4 98.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.2
New Orleans, LA 1,009,283 37 15,590 15,520 55.3 0.0 30.2 0.0 14.5 55.4 0.0 30.3 0.0 14.3
Buffalo, NY 976,703 38 26,217 28,371 75.6 0.0 23.9 0.0 0.5 75.4 0.0 24.2 0.0 0.4
Memphis, TN-MS-AR 972,091 39 11,596 11,730 88.0 0.0 10.0 0.0 2.0 88.8 0.0 9.0 0.0 2.2
Austin, TX 901,920 40 34,214 38,152 97.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 97.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.8
Bridgeport-Stamford, CT-NY 888,890 41 10,945 11,291 96.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.9 96.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.1
Salt Lake City, UT 887,650 42 37,966 39,523 56.9 0.0 34.7 3.5 4.9 55.9 0.0 35.3 3.5 5.3
Jacksonville, FL 882,295 43 10,937 11,346 92.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.1 92.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.6
Louisville, KY-IN 863,582 44 14,202 15,912 99.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 99.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.9
Hartford, CT 851,535 45 16,311 17,407 89.3 0.0 0.0 3.1 7.6 89.4 0.0 0.0 3.1 7.5
Richmond, VA 818,836 46 13,183 15,020 95.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.6 96.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.6
Charlotte, NC-SC 758,927 47 24,245 26,285 78.5 0.0 19.6 0.0 2.0 79.1 0.0 19.0 0.0 1.9
Nashville-Davidson, TN 749,935 48 8,722 9,720 91.2 0.0 0.0 2.1 6.7 94.7 0.0 0.0 2.0 3.4
Oklahoma City, OK 747,003 49 2,754 2,721 97.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.2 97.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.4
Tucson, AZ 720,425 50 21,355 21,533 97.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.3 97.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.3
Top 50 urbanized area, total 127,900,270   9,100,507 9,467,077 48.9 38.0 5.1 5.0 3.0 49.5 37.7 4.9 5.0 2.9
United States, urbanized area total1 193,134,710   9,871,126 10,246,223 52.4 35.1 4.7 4.7 3.2 52.9 34.8 4.5 4.7 3.1
Top 50 as percent of U.S. total 66.2   92.2 92.4 86.0 100.0 100.0 99.5 86.5 86.5 100.0 100.0 99.7 86.0

1 Excludes territories (Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and Saipan).

NOTES: This table includes data from urban transit agencies that are required to report information to the federal government because they applied for or are direct beneficiaries of urbanized area formula grants (49 USC 5307). Transit agencies with nine or fewer vehicles that would otherwise need to report under this definition typically receive a waiver from detailed reporting and, thus, are not necessarily included in the source database. Details may not add to totals due to rounding.

2008 data are revised.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, National Transit Database, Monthly Database, available at http://www.ntdprogram.gov/ntdprogram/data.htm as of Jun. 28, 2011.