The farebox recovery ratio of a passenger transportation system is the proportion of the amount of revenue generated through fares by its paying customers as a fraction of the cost of its total operating expenses. Most systems aren't self-supporting, so advertising revenue and government subsidies are usually required to cover costs. The Hong Kong MTR Corporation is one of the few self-supporting transit systems in the world.

Farebox ratios around the world

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The following table lists farebox ratios for some public transportation systems around the world.

Ratio of fares to operating costs for public transport systems (%)

System	Ratio	Year
Europe
Brussels	28%	1991http://www.jrtr.net/jrtr29/pdf/f12_sho.pdf
Copenhagen	52%	1991
London Underground	84%	1991
Milan	28%	1991
Munich	42%	1991
RATP (Paris)	43%	1991
Stockholm	30%	1991
Vienna	50%	1991
Zurich	66%	1991
Japan
Osaka (Hankyu Railway)	123%	1991
Osaka (OMTB)	137%	1991
Teito RTA (now Tokyo Metro)	170%	1991
North America
Atlanta (MARTA)	39.2%	2002http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1215/is_7_205/ai_n6150069
Bay Area (BART)	56%	2005http://www.bart.gov/docs/AR2005.txt BART 2005 Annual Report
Chicago (CTA)	44.3%	2002
Cleveland (GCRTA)	21.5%	2002
Los Angeles (LACMTA)	19.6%	2002
Maryland (MTA)	26.3%	2002
Massachusetts Bay (MBTA)	43.7%	2002
Miami-Dade Transit	16.1%	2002
New York City subway	67.3%	2002
New York/New Jersey (PATH)	41.0%	2002
Philadelphia (SEPTA)	58.6%	2002
Philadelphia/New Jersey (PATCO)	61.4%	2002
Staten Island Railway	15.2%	2002
Toronto Subway and RT	68%	1991
Washington, DC (WMATA)	61.6%	2002

Notes

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