With thousands of people boarding buses and light rail trains every day, it’s reasonable to wonder just how we keep track of all those rides.
On light rail and bus rapid transit lines where riders pay before boarding, the answer is Automatic Passenger Counters, or APCs. On buses where riders pay when boarding, ridership counts come from fare payment data.
These methodologies are consistent with industry practices and validated by the Federal Transit Administration, which collects national transit data.
What are Automatic Passenger Counters?
Using invisible light beams inside the doorway, APCs measure movements into and out of vehicles. Every time someone steps through a doorway, a ride is counted. The technology is widely used across the industry and has been in place at Metro Transit for more than 20 years.
How do we know the data is accurate?
While APCs provide reliable and efficient data, manual headcounts done by staff who ride buses and trains are used to verify the data and ensure equipment is working as intended.
How is ridership connected to fare payments?
Fare payments are not used to track ridership on proof of payment lines because valid payments like paper transfers and mobile tickets can't be electronically recorded with existing fare technology (riders with unlimited ride passes can also forget to tap before boarding).
On buses where customers pay when boarding, and operators actively monitor fare payments, fares are used to count rides. (All buses have APCs, however, and provide data that is used to see where people are getting on and off across the system.)
What about people who don’t pay their fares?
Ridership is a measure of how many people are using our system, so ridership counts do include rides people take without a paid fare (such as sponsored rides offered to promote transit use to events).
How is a ride defined?
A ride is counted every time someone boards a bus or train. So, if someone transfers to another bus or train during a trip, they will have taken two rides.