The Fixed Route Statistics Report provides valuable insights into fixed route performance across your agency. This report supports internal analysis, fulfills state reporting requirements, and can be used to strengthen applications for DOT grant funding.
The report shows the statistics summarized for each agency. If you drill further, you'll see the agency's data also summarized by Transit Mode and Route. Select a plus sign, to the left of each agency listed, to drill into the data further:
You can expand an agency's data to see the totals by Transit Mode (MB- motor bus, DO- directly operated, vs. MB- motor bus PT- purchased transportation). If you expand the mode you'll also see the totals for individual routes. Columns are also sortable. For example, sort to prioritize certain metrics near the top or bottom of the report.
The table includes the following information:
- Agency: Transit Agency that recorded the service performed.
- Unlinked Passenger Trips: All passenger trips, including transfers. This is the total ridership collected on revenue routes for the selected period. This comes from the "Ridership Source" defined in the ETMS Routes card (typically a farebox source or APC Boards)
- Senior Passenger Trips: The total number of senior ridership that was collected on revenue routes. All fares with the ridership type set to the senior category will be totaled here.
- Actual Vehicle Miles: This is the total scheduled revenue miles plus the total scheduled deadhead miles plus or minus any system adjustments entered. System adjustments are used to track deviations from scheduled service. The deadhead miles will follow the revenue route schedule immediately after it when pulling out from the garage or the revenue route immediately before it when returning to the garage.
- Actual Vehicle Revenue Miles: This is the total scheduled revenue miles plus or minus any system adjustments entered. System adjustments are used to track deviations from scheduled service. This value does not include any non-revenue or deadhead miles.
- Actual Vehicle Hours: This is the total scheduled revenue hours plus the total scheduled deadhead hours plus or minus any system adjustments entered. System adjustments are used to track deviations from scheduled service. The deadhead hours will follow the revenue route schedule immediately after it when pulling out from the garage or the revenue route immediately before it when returning to the garage.
- Actual Vehicle Revenue Hours: This is the total scheduled revenue hours plus or minus any system adjustments entered. System adjustments are used to track deviations from scheduled service. This value does not include any non-revenue or deadhead hours.
- Passenger Per Revenue Mile: The total unlinked passenger trips divided by the actual vehicle revenue miles creates this KPI. This helps show the average number of riders that have boarded per revenue mile.
- Passenger Per Revenue Hour: The total unlinked passenger trips divided by the actual vehicle revenue hours creates this KPI. This helps show the average number of riders that have boarded per revenue hour.
The following data categories are broken out by Agency, Transit Mode, and Type of Service. The Transit mode and Type of Service are defined at the Route Level within the ETMS Routes Card
- MB DO: Motor Bus Directory Operated
- MB PT: Motor Bus Purchased Transportation
- CB DO: Commuter Bus Directly Operated
- CB PT: Commuter Bus Purchased Transportation
- RB DO: Bus Rapid Transit Directly Operated
- RB PT: Bus Rapid Transit Purchased Transportation
Hovering over any column header will show a tool tip describing the column name.
In the top right corner, use the filter pane to apply filters across the report. You can use the following specialized filters:
- Specific/Sliding Date: Choose a specific or sliding date you want the chart to display the data for. For the Sliding date you can select the Start and End options: Today, Yesterday, Last Week Start, Last Week End, This Week Start, Last Month Start, Last Month End, This Month Start, Last Quarter Start, Last Quarter End, This Quarter Start, Last Year Start, Last Year End, This Year Start, 10/30/60/90/180/365 Days Ago.
- Transit Authority: select a specific transit authority from the drop-down.
- Route: select a route for the chosen transit authority from the drop-down.
- Transit Mode: select a transit mode for the chosen transit authority from the drop-down.
In the top left corner the Export Report button allows you to export the report to Excel or PDF.
Deadhead Ridership by Transit Mode
Overview
The Deadhead Ridership calculation was improved in the Fixed Route Statistics (FRS) report, particularly for agencies that operate across multiple Transit Modes. Deadhead trips (non-revenue vehicle movements) are tied to the revenue route that proceed or follows the deadhead trip. The improved system now aligns deadhead ridership more closely with the revenue routes and Transit Modes it supports, resulting in more accurate and meaningful reporting. The deadhead ridership is now aligned with the Transit Mode of the service it supports, rather than being restricted to a single predefined mode. By distributing ridership appropriately across modes, the Fixed Route Statistics report now provides a more accurate and useful representation of system performance.
Previous Behavior
Previously, deadhead ridership was tied to a single Deadhead route, and that route was associated with only one Transit Mode. Because of this, all deadhead ridership appeared under that single mode, regardless of where the activity actually occurred.
For agencies operating multiple modes, this created a disconnect between real-world operations and report results. Even if deadhead trips supported multiple services (for example, Commuter and Local routes), the ridership would still be grouped into just one mode. This often led to confusion when analyzing mode-level data and made it difficult to compare the Fixed Route Statistics report with other reporting tools.
Another limitation was that the Deadhead route is not available on ETMS Route Cards, meaning users could not view or configure its Transit Mode. As a result, there was no way to correct or influence how deadhead ridership was categorized.
What Changed
Now, the system no longer relies solely on the Deadhead route’s assigned mode. Instead, it evaluates the revenue trip and route associated with the deadhead activity and assigns ridership accordingly.
Key improvements include:
Deadhead ridership now follows the Transit Mode of the associated revenue route
Ridership is distributed across multiple Transit Modes when applicable
The logic is applied consistently across:
Fixed Route Statistics Report
Compliance NTD Summary Report
How It Works Now
Deadhead trips are still recorded as non-revenue activity; however, their ridership is now evaluated in the context of the revenue service they support.
In practice, this means:
If deadhead activity supports a single mode, the behavior remains unchanged
If deadhead activity supports multiple modes, ridership is split and reported under each relevant mode
Each Transit Mode reflects only the ridership associated with its corresponding revenue routes
What This Means in the Report
In the Fixed Route Statistics report, users may now see deadhead ridership appear under multiple Transit Modes instead of being grouped under just one.
While the total deadhead ridership remains the same, the way it is allocated across modes has changed. This provides a clearer and more realistic view of how service is delivered, especially for agencies with multi-modal operations.
CB PT = Commuter Bus
MB PT = Motor Bus