passenger mile

noun

A basic unit used by transport companies for calculating profit levels etc. It is calculated by multiplying total distance travelled in a given period by the number of passengers.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounpassenger mile (plural passenger miles)

plural passenger miles · alternative passenger-mile

  1. A basic unit used by transport companies for calculating profit levels etc. It is calculated by multiplying total distance travelled in a given period by the number of passengers.

    Remember, in 1993 BR was fighting its way through a recession which would see passenger miles fall to the lowest level since Bob Reid launched the business-led railway.

    2019 October, Roger Ford, “Class 365 fleet state-owned”, in Modern Railways, page 34

Origin

Compound of passenger + mile, although, as with any such unit of measure (e.g., person-months, newton metres), the mathematical relationship of multiplication is simultaneously involved; see ton-mile for more information.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Spanish millas-pasajero
  • millas-pasajerounit
Cite this entry
APA

passenger mile. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/passenger%20mile

MLA

“passenger mile.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/passenger%20mile. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “passenger mile,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/passenger%20mile.

Source: passenger mile on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.