August 20, 2026
Report Shows Improved On-Time Performance, Increased Productivity and Strong Ridership
ALBANY, NY (August 20, 2026) The Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) has released its annual Route Performance Report for FY2026, highlighting ridership and productivity trends, improvements in on-time performance, and the impact of CDTA’s ongoing service rebalancing efforts.
Despite a slight decline in ridership, CDTA continued to see strong demand for transit in FY2026, with approximately 18 million boardings, a 2% decrease from FY2025. Ridership remains near CDTA’s record-breaking 18.4 million boardings achieved in FY2025 and continues to exceed pre-pandemic levels.
The FY2026 results demonstrate CDTA’s continued focus on aligning service levels and resources with available funding and customer demand while maintaining a strong emphasis on productivity, reliability, and customer experience. In August 2025, CDTA began implementing a service rebalancing initiative informed by recommendations in its Transit Development Plan (TDP). The plan identified opportunities to strategically match service and resources with demand and available funding while prioritizing reliable and frequent service on routes that serve the greatest number of customers.
This approach produced measurable improvements in system productivity. Despite the modest decline in overall ridership, systemwide productivity increased 6% to 22.9 boardings per revenue hour, demonstrating that CDTA is carrying more customers with each hour of service provided and deploying its resources more efficiently. Frequent routes and the BusPlus network continued to be the strongest performers, reinforcing the value of concentrating service where demand is greatest.
Service reliability also improved significantly. Systemwide on-time performance increased 1.9% compared with FY2025, reflecting the positive impact of schedule optimization efforts implemented across the system, including in Albany, Troy, Schenectady, Amsterdam, and Glens Falls. Together, these improvements demonstrate that CDTA’s strategic approach to matching service with demand and available funding is producing positive results, improving productivity, strengthening on-time performance, and maximizing the value of every service hour while maintaining ridership at historically strong levels.
The top-performing routes systemwide based on boardings per revenue hour were:
- Route #1 (Central Avenue) – 35 rides per hour
- Route #12 (Washington Avenue) – 34.2 rides per hour
- Route #905 (BusPlus Red Line) – 31.5 rides per hour
- Route #100 (Mid-City Belt) – 31.2 rides per hour
- Route #910 (BusPlus Purple Line) – 29 rides per hour
The report also highlights the continued success of CDTA’s Universal Access Program, which generated 5.6 million rides in FY2026, representing 31% of total annual ridership. The program provides transportation access through partnerships with 56 organizations, including major partners such as the University at Albany, Albany City School District, and New York State Office of General Services. Through Universal Access, employees, students, and other members of participating organizations can use CDTA to travel to work, school, medical appointments, recreational activities, and other destinations without the cost of transportation being a barrier.
Looking ahead to FY2027, CDTA will continue implementing its service rebalancing strategy, including Phase 4 changes beginning on Sunday, August 23, 2026. These adjustments are designed to help CDTA maintain a balanced budget while continuing to improve service reliability and maximize the use of available resources.
CDTA will also implement Phase II of its Glens Falls route adjustments on August 23, increasing service on the system’s most productive routes while reducing service on routes with lower demand. The changes are intended to better align service levels with ridership demand and ensure CDTA resources are being used where they can have the greatest impact on customers.
To view the full route report: Annual Route Performance Reports | www.cdta.org.