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Table 1: Largest U.S. Bus Transit Systems Ranked in Descending Order of Ridership, Fiscal Year 2000
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State
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System
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Annual Ridership (1,000s) [a]
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Vehicles in Max. Service
|
Total Operating Expenses (1,000s)
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Per Vehicle Hour*
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Rank
|
Per Operating Hour
|
Rank
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NY
|
New York City Transit
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821,995
|
3,840
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$1,323,55 7
|
90.74
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5
|
80.48
|
6
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CA
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Los Angeles County Metro
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347,451
|
1,888
|
668,021
|
88.81
|
7
|
88.27
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2
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IL
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Chicago Transit Authority
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302,090
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1,577
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492,143
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78.15
|
15
|
69.67
|
20
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PA
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SEPTA
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161,213
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1,132
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333,969
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83.25
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12
|
74.03
|
17
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NJ
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New Jersey Transit
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141,404
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1,682
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465,096
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85.45
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10
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77.84
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10
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DC
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Washington-Metro
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129,524
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1,179
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295,750
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85.88
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9
|
77.87
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9
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NY
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New York City-Franchised
|
111,311
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1,084
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264,985
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86.18
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8
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77.40
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12
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MA
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Mass Bay Transp Auth
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98,584
|
769
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213,480
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78.50
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14
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60.70
|
26
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CA
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Municipal Railway (SF-MUNI)
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96,394
|
372
|
141,548
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95.39
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3
|
81.66
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4
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TX
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MetroTransAuth HarrisCnty
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86,736
|
1,017
|
213,864
|
65.35
|
27
|
85.19
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3
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MD
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MTA-Maryland DOT
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85,352
|
649
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165,461
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83.69
|
11
|
76.79
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13
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GA
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Metro Atlanta RTA
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83,119
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580
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171,340
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71.50
|
23
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71.38
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18
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MN
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Metro Transit
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73,478
|
785
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168,935
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73.14
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20
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63.20
|
25
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WA
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King County DOT
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73,287
|
931
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243,984
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90.32
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6
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76.02
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15
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WI
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Milwaukee Cnty Trans Sys
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70,548
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461
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107,652
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65.64
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26
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58.65
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27
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CA
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Alameda-Contra Costa TD
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67,412
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606
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179,054
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90.89
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4
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77.47
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11
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HI
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City & County of Honolulu
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66,603
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431
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103,907
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75.92
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18
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68.65
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22
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PA
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Port Authority Allegheny
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66,554
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848
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181,395
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70.34
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24
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67.68
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23
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FL
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Miami-Dade Transit Agency
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65,821
|
530
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150,855
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72.84
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22
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78.92
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7
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OR
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Tri-County Metro District
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61,819
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570
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146,745
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73.21
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19
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68.88
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21
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CO
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Regional Transp District
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61,036
|
639
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193,990
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73.00
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21
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71.34
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19
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CA
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Orange County Trans Auth
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55,527
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380
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98,071
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66.46
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25
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66.06
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24
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OH
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Greater Cleveland RTA
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51,592
|
619
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164,215
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79.69
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13
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75.24
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16
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LA
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RTA-Orleans & Jefferson
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50,649
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299
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77,308
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76.56
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16
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76.63
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14
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NV
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ATC\VanCom [d]
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49,555
|
231
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54,715
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43.23
|
30
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42.76
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30
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CA
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Santa Clara Valley TA
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47,008
|
427
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183,600
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110.62
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1
|
94.59
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1
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TX
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Dallas Area RTA
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45,936
|
441
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175,286
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76.37
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17
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77.89
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8
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TX
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VIA Metropolitan Transit
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44,415
|
421
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74,687
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49.93
|
28
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56.43
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28
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MI
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City of Detroit DOT
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43,887
|
401
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151,038
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96.19
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2
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81.33
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5
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CA
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San Diego Transit Corp. [c]
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42,780
|
268
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88,680
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49.30
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29
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47.66
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29
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a. Unlinked passenger trips
b.To reflect regional differences in labor costs, the wage, salary and benefit components of each bus system’s operating expenses were adjusted to a national norm, defined as the ratio of the U.S. average hourly wage for all full-time blue-collar workers to the average blue collar wage in the labor market served by the bus system, as reported by the U.S. Labor Department in National Compensation Surveys for 2000. For example, the national average blue-collar wage of $13.69 was 87 percent of Metropolitan New York-New Jersey-Connecticut-Pennsylvania regional average of $15.74; thus, the labor-adjusted operating expense for New York City Transit is the sum of its wages, salaries and benefits multiplied by 0.87 and then added to non-labor costs.
c. Includes privately contracted services.
d. Figures for Las Vegas do not include operator’s unreported profit.
* Vehicle hours consist of all of the time a bus is on the road, in service and out of service, including “deadhead” periods most common in express service.
Sources: Transit data from Federal Transit Administration, National Transit Database, 2000. Labor market data from U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statstics, National Compensation Survey and regional summaries for 2000.
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