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Calcimator

Transit Ridership Estimator

Estimate transit ridership from population density, service frequency, walk access, and cost competitiveness for route planning.

Inputs

units/acre
jobs/acre
min
miles
$
$
$

Results

Est. Daily Boardings

93

Annual Ridership28,450
Est. Transit Mode Share11.7%
Passengers per Hour1.5
Annual Fare Revenue$56,900.00
Density Score0.83
Frequency Score0.47
Walk Access Score1
Cost Competitiveness1.2
How to Use This Calculator
  1. Enter Population Density, Employment Density, and Service Headway.
  2. Set Average Walk Distance, One-Way Fare, and Daily Parking Cost.
  3. Adjust Area Median Income as needed.
  4. Review the Est. Daily Boardings result.
  5. Use Annual Ridership and Est. Transit Mode Share (%) to inform your decision.

How the result changes with Area Median Income

Area Median IncomeEst. Daily Boardings
$38,000.00112
$83,000.0067
$137,000.0041
$182,000.0031

What each input means

Population Density
Residential density near the transit stop/station.
Employment Density
Job density within the transit station area (0.5-mile radius).
Service Headway
Time between transit vehicles. Under 10 min is considered frequent service.
Average Walk Distance
Average distance residents/workers walk to reach the stop. Under 0.25 mi is ideal.
One-Way Fare
One-way transit fare.
Daily Parking Cost
Average daily parking cost at the destination. Higher parking costs increase transit competitiveness.
Area Median Income
Median household income of the service area.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

  1. Identify Input Parameters
    4 parameters
    Population Density = 15, Employment Density = 20, Service Headway = 15, Average Walk Distance = 0.25 = 7 input(s) provided
  2. Calculate Est. Daily Boardings
    Est. Daily Boardings
    93 = 93
  3. Calculate Annual Ridership
    Annual Ridership
    28450 = 28450
  4. Calculate Est. Transit Mode Share
    Est. Transit Mode Share
    11.7 = 11.7

Engine last updated . Checked against 2 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators.

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