APTA Sustainability Indicators
2023-2024 Performance Trends

KEY:

Favorable:

Unfavorable:

APTA category

2023 2024 % change progress

Operational Efficiency

Unlinked Passenger Trips(per Capita x 100)

2,765

3,085

11.6%

Vehicle Miles Traveled(per Capita)

7,003

7,347

0.9%

Operating Expenses¹(Dollars per Vehicle Revenue Mile)

$20.07

$20.66

2.9%

Vehicle Revenue Miles(1,000,000)

109

117

7.3%

Air Quality

Criteria Air Pollutant Emissions²(Pounds per 10,000 Vehicle Revenue Miles)

6.1

4.4

-28.4%

Climate

Greenhouse Gas Emissions³(Pounds CO₂e per Vehicle Revenue Mile)

2.89

2.51

-13.3%

Greenhouse Gas Displacement⁴(Metric Tons CO₂e)

-943,099

-1,134,595

20.3%

Net Greenhouse Gas Emissions⁴(Metric Tons CO₂e)

-799,562

-1,001,453

25.3%

Energy

Energy Use(1,000 British Thermal Units per Vehicle Revenue Mile)

51.5

48.5

-5.8%

Water

Water Use(Gallons per Vehicle Revenue Mile)

1.64

1.40

-14.6%

Waste

Total Solid Waste⁵(Tons per 100,000 Vehicle Revenue Miles)

11.70

12.65

8.1%

Diversion from Landfill(Percent Diverted)

44.6%

39.9%

-10.9%

Notes:

¹United States Dollars (USD) in this table are normalized to be presented in 2024 USD.

²Criteria air pollutant (CAP) emissions are a normalized aggregate of hydrocarbon (HC), nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions.

³In 2020, Metro updated its GHG emissions calculation methodology to calculate Scope 2 emissions using both market-based and location-based emission factors. The former reflects the emissions intensity of purchased electricity from utilities based on the sources from which they procure energy, and the latter reflects the average emissions intensity of the regional grid on which our energy consumption occurs. In this table, emissions totals are based on market-based emissions factors.

⁴In 2024, the methodology for calculating displaced greenhouse gas emissions was updated due to updated guidance that better accounts for present-day transportation modes, such as ride-hailing/rideshare services. 2023 figures for displaced and net emissions have been updated to align with the new methodology to create a like-for-like comparison.

⁵Waste metrics in this table only reflect solid waste generated and diverted from operations, not from construction.

Overview

As a founding member of the American Public Transportation Association's (APTA) Sustainability Commitment, Metro annually reports on a framework of performance metrics that enable all APTA members to measure and report progress related to sustainability over time. This rigorous reporting also allows Metro to remain transparent with its customers and business partners across LA County, demonstrating alignment and statewide policy and targets on climate and environment. The reporting framework and methodology that govern these metrics conform to APTA's Recommended Practice “Quantifying and Reporting Transit Sustainability Metrics.”

APTA recommends that transit agencies use normalization factors when reporting performance metrics in order to account for changes in service size and scale. These factors are applied when calculating annual performance to more effectively measure and compare sustainability performance over time, especially during years of service growth or change. Metro applies Vehicle Revenue Miles (VRM) as the normalization factor for all metrics in this table, unless otherwise noted. VRM represents the total number of miles Metro vehicles traveled during revenue service (i.e., the time when a vehicle is available to the public and is expected to carry passengers).

Note: Readers may observe percentage changes in this trend table that do not match percentage changes noted in other narratives within this Sustainability Reporting Dashboard. That is because percentage changes noted here refer to the normalized figures (e.g., pounds per vehicle revenue mile), whereas elsewhere they are based on actual numbers (e.g., pounds).