Which N.J. light rail does the best financially?

[Jeff Smith]

NJ.com

Which one of NJ Transit's three light rail lines performs the best when it comes to moving passengers and covering costs?

The answer to this question may be a surprise, because the line with the most riders isn't bringing in the most revenue to cover operating costs. NJ Transit has three light rail lines, Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, the Newark Light Rail, which includes the Newark subway, and the River Line running between Camden and Trenton.
...
To no one's surprise, Hudson-Bergen Light Rail had the most riders in fiscal year 2015, which runs from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015. That line saw a 2.7 percent ridership growth, from 13.82 million riders in fiscal year 2014 to 14.2 million in fiscal year 2015, according to figures provided to the legislature by NJ Transit.
...
The River Line saw a 1.4 percent drop in ridership, from 2.869 million to 2.83 million between the two fiscal years. Those annual numbers are consistent with recent daily ridership on weekdays reported by NJ Transit.

But Hudson-Bergen, despite its high ridership, did not do the best of all light rail lines in covering operating costs, which is called the fare box recovery ratio and is the percentage of operating costs covered by fares.
...