Buses mean business
The economic impact of US heavy-duty transit bus manufacturing
Heavy-duty transit buses are a critical component of America’s public transportation system, carrying approximately 3.8 billion passenger trips annually and representing nearly half of all public transit trips in the United States.
Supporting these services is a domestic manufacturing ecosystem that produces transit buses and the components, materials, and services required to deliver them. This report estimates the economic footprint of the US heavy-duty transit bus manufacturing industry in 2025, including direct impacts at bus manufacturers, indirect impacts throughout the supply chain, and induced impacts generated by worker spending.
The analysis finds that transit bus manufacturing supported approximately 34,100 jobs, $5.1 billion in GDP, and $1.1 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenue in 2025. The industry’s economic impact extends well beyond vehicle assembly, supporting manufacturing, logistics, business services, and other sectors across all 50 states. The report also highlights the industry’s role in meeting substantial future replacement demand, with more than half of the nation’s transit bus fleet already at or approaching the Federal Transit Administration’s useful-life benchmark.
The experts behind the research
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Dan MartinLead Economist, Economic Impact
Dan Martin is a Lead Economist on the Economic Impact Consulting team. During his eleven years at Oxford Economics, Dan has worked on a wide range of topics, including economic footprint analyses in industries such as petroleum refining, air transportation, nuclear energy, consumer goods, and industrial trucks.
Much of his work has focused on labor markets, on topics such as overtime regulation, career progression, retirement savings, and gap analyses relating occupational demand to educational supply. He has also worked on topics such as energy efficiency, international trade, and the economics of warehousing.
Dan has a PhD in economics from Clark University, an MA from NYU, and a BS from Stanford, and previously worked at the Environmental Protection Agency.
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