DVRPC tracks transit ridership in the region through unlinked passenger trips, with data provided by each of the region's four transit operators—Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit), Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO), and Pottstown Area Rapid Transit (PART)—to the National Transit Database (NTD). Unlinked passenger trips count each passenger boarding, regardless of fare paid. Thus, a trip with a transfer would count as two boardings. Transit ridership does not include Amtrak, shuttles, or private bus passengers. It also does not include services that receive partial funding from SEPTA, like SCCOOT operated by the Transportation Management Association of Chester County.

The first chart shows the number of unlinked trips by mode—bus, trolley bus, light rail, heavy rail, commuter or regional rail, and non-scheduled services, which includes paratransit, demand response, and vanpools. The second chart shows the number of unlinked trips by transit agency. Both graphs can be toggled between: Total unlinked trips, unlinked trips per capita, unlinked trips per vehicle revenue hour (VRH), and unlinked trips per vehicle revenue mile (VRM). Vehicle revenue hours and miles count only when transit vehicles are operating along their scheduled routes. These figures do not account for ‘deadhead’ miles when not in passenger service, such as going to and from the depot on their way to or coming back from their scheduled route. Heavy rail and commuter rail services that operate with multiple passenger vehicles in one train count miles and hours for each vehicle individually. For example, a train with six passenger cars traveling one mile will count as six vehicle revenue miles.

NJ Transit's ridership figures are for the DVRPC region only. These figures are based on service in the Trenton and Philadelphia urbanized areas collected by the NTD. Prior to 2013, NJ Transit ridership, vehicle revenue hours, and vehicle revenue miles data was only provided at the statewide level. To calculate the region’s share of these NJ Transit figures, statewide totals from 1997 to 2012 were multiplied by the region’s percentage based on the 2013 to 2022 averages in each category. These averages were 12% of the state's total ridership, 14% of the vehicle revenue miles, and 12% of the vehicle revenue hours. PART ridership data is only available from 2005 onwards. PART vehicle revenue hour and mile data is only available from 2011 onwards. SEPTA trolley bus ridership data is not available from 2004 to 2007.