Load Factor
This indicator, calculated by dividing passenger kilometers by place kilometers, shows the average load on a bus route throughout the day. The higher the load factor, the more profitable the operation, provided that fares are set high enough: if they are too low there can be significant loss even on very full buses. The theoretical maximum of 100% is never achieved in urban services; buses are rarely full for an entire journey, and usually there are directional imbalances in demand at different times, resulting in buses operating with heavier loads in one direction than in the other.
The load factor will depend on the nature of the route but in practice should normally be about 30% to 40% for large buses and for very busy midibus routes up to 65%.
Certain types of electronic ticket machines, as well as smart cards, may provide data to enable load factors to be calculated.