The Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) released its annual Route Performance Report for FY2026, highlighting ridership and productivity trends, improved on-time performance, and the impact of CDTA’s ongoing service rebalancing efforts.  

Despite a slight decline in ridership, CDTA continued to see strong transit demand 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.

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 to demand and available funding while prioritizing reliable, frequent service on routes that serve the greatest number of customers.

According to the agency, 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 remained 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 show 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

Universal Access Accounts for Nearly One-Third of CDTA Ridership

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 transportation costs as a barrier.

Looking ahead to FY2027, CDTA will continue implementing its service rebalancing strategy, including Phase 4 changes that began Sunday, August 23, 2026. These adjustments are designed to help CDTA maintain a balanced budget while improving service reliability and maximizing the use of available resources.

CDTA also implemented Phase II of its Glens Falls route adjustments on August 23 to increase service on the system’s most productive routes while reducing service on lower-demand routes. The changes are intended to align service levels with ridership demand and ensure CDTA uses resources where they can have the greatest impact on customers.