Metro Magazine
Metro Magazine is a B2B trade publication founded in 1904, serving the bus, rail, and motorcoach passenger transit industry with news, analysis, podcasts, webinars, and an annual buyer's guide, monetized primarily through advertising and subscriptions.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1904
- HeadquartersTorrance, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Metro Magazine does
Metro Magazine is a B2B trade publication founded in 1904 and operated by Bobit Business Media Inc., a privately held US media conglomerate headquartered in Torrance, California. The publication serves the bus, rail, and motorcoach passenger transit industry, providing news, feature articles, analysis, and operational insights to transit agencies, motorcoach operators, commercial bus operators, and transportation suppliers. Editorial coverage spans bus, rail, motorcoach, paratransit, new mobility, technology, security and safety, zero emissions, disaster response, and management categories. The publication also extends coverage to international transit forums including the ITF, Velo-city, UITP Congress, and Polis Conference.
The core product is the Metro Magazine publication, available in print and digital editions, supported by a portfolio of complementary content assets. These include the METROspectives video podcast featuring interviews with transit industry leaders, the Transit Dispatches blog, sponsored webinars, whitepapers (such as fleet management and passenger Wi-Fi research), and the annual METRO Buyer's Guide & Directory connecting transit buyers with vehicle, technology, and service suppliers. Distribution spans a website (metro-magazine.com), daily email newsletters, social channels on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, and YouTube, plus multimedia podcast platforms. The underlying technology is web-based content delivery with no proprietary AI/ML capabilities, API, or SDK offerings documented.
Revenue is generated through two principal streams: advertising and sponsorships (including sponsored content, webinars, whitepapers, and podcast inventory), and paid subscriptions for the magazine and digital edition. The publication targets a horizontal segmentation across multiple transit-industry buyer personas rather than a single niche, with transit agencies and motorcoach operators identified as primary segments and bus operators and transportation suppliers as secondary segments. Pricing for both subscriptions and advertising is not publicly disclosed. The company operates within the Bobit Business Media portfolio alongside other transportation and fleet titles, benefiting from shared media-infrastructure scale while remaining a focused vertical brand.
Metro Magazine firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Metro Magazine
- Legal name
- Bobit Business Media Inc.
- Website
- https://metro-magazine.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1904
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Metro Magazine is a B2B trade publication founded in 1904, serving the bus, rail, and motorcoach passenger transit industry with news, analysis, podcasts, webinars, and an annual buyer's guide, monetized primarily through advertising and subscriptions.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Metro Magazine industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Trade Media — Transit Industry Publication
- NAICS
- Periodical Publishers (513120)
- SIC
- Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Automotive & Transportation Magazines (MPAJAEAI)
Keywords
Where Metro Magazine is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Torrance
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Metro Magazine business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Advertising and Sponsorships: Metro Magazine generates revenue through advertising placements in its digital and print publications, sponsored content, and branded multimedia content including webinars and whitepapers.
- Subscriptions: The publication offers paid subscriptions for its magazine content and digital edition access.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
Metro Magazine product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Metro Magazine is a B2B trade publication serving the bus, rail, and motorcoach passenger transit industry with news, analysis, feature articles, podcasts, videos, webinars, whitepapers, and an annual Buyer's Guide & Directory. It distributes content through its website, print and digital magazine, email newsletters, and social media channels to inform transit agency and operator decision-makers. The publication also provides advertising and sponsored content opportunities for transportation suppliers seeking to reach transit buyers.
Product overview
Metro Magazine is a B2B trade publication serving the passenger transit industry with news, analysis, and industry insights across bus, rail, motorcoach, paratransit, and emerging mobility sectors. The company offers a unified media platform consisting of the core Metro Magazine publication (available in print and digital editions), the METROspectives video/podcast series featuring industry leader interviews, METRO Webinars for educational content, METRO Whitepapers for in-depth research reports, and the annual METRO Buyer's Guide & Directory connecting buyers with suppliers. Content spans categories including technology, zero emissions, safety, management, new mobility, and disaster response.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- METROspectives: Video podcast series featuring interviews with transit industry leaders and executives discussing technology, mobility trends, and industry innovations.
Companies that use Metro Magazine
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Metro Magazine technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Metro Magazine partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Metro Magazine competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Government Fleet Magazine: A B2B publication covering public-sector fleet management, including government-owned vehicles and transit fleets. Published by Bobit Business Media, it overlaps with Metro's transit-fleet audience and competes for fleet-management ad spend.
- Mass Transit Magazine: A B2B trade publication covering the public transit industry, including bus, rail, and paratransit. It is a direct competitor to Metro Magazine in serving transit agency decision-makers with editorial coverage and supplier advertising.
- Railway Age: A historic B2B rail industry publication covering passenger and freight rail, including transit. It competes with Metro Magazine for rail transit audience attention and supplier marketing budgets.
- Bus & Motorcoach News: A B2B trade publication serving motorcoach, charter, and tour bus operators. It is a direct competitor to Metro Magazine for the motorcoach-operator reader and supplier advertiser segment.
- Progressive Railroading: A long-established B2B trade publication serving the North American freight and passenger rail industry. It directly overlaps Metro Magazine's rail coverage and competes for transit-agency readers and rail-supplier ad dollars.
- School Bus Fleet: A B2B trade publication focused on pupil transportation and school bus operations. It is published by Bobit Business Media (Metro Magazine's parent) and serves an overlapping fleet-operations audience with similar advertising and content monetization.
Emerging players
- Streetsblog USA: A digital-first publication focused on sustainable urban transportation, including transit, walking, and cycling. It serves an adjacent audience to Metro Magazine with overlapping editorial coverage of transit policy and operations.
- Cities Today: A digital B2B media brand covering urban development and mobility, including public transit. It serves a broader urban-mobility audience but competes with Metro for transit-agency and city-transport decision-maker attention.
Broad incumbents
- Transport Topics: A major trucking and freight transportation B2B publication. While primarily freight-focused, it covers broader transportation topics and competes with Metro for transportation-supplier advertising budgets.
- Fleet Owner: A large B2B media brand covering commercial trucking and fleet operations broadly. It does not specialize in transit the way Metro does, but overlaps on commercial vehicle fleet coverage and competes for supplier ad dollars.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Metro Magazine social profiles
Digital presenceMetro Magazine financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Metro Magazine leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Metro Magazine funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Metro Magazine M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Metro Magazine
What does Metro Magazine do?
Metro Magazine is a B2B trade publication serving the bus, rail, and motorcoach passenger transit industry with news, analysis, feature articles, podcasts, videos, webinars, whitepapers, and an annual Buyer's Guide & Directory. It distributes content through its website, print and digital magazine, email newsletters, and social media channels to inform transit agency and operator decision-makers. The publication also provides advertising and sponsored content opportunities for transportation suppliers seeking to reach transit buyers.
Is Metro Magazine a public or private company?
Metro Magazine is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Metro Magazine founded?
Metro Magazine was founded in 1904. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Metro Magazine based?
Metro Magazine is headquartered in Torrance, United States, in the North America region.
How does Metro Magazine make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Advertising and Sponsorships are the primary driver. The others are subscriptions.
Who are Metro Magazine's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Government Fleet Magazine, Mass Transit Magazine, Railway Age, Bus & Motorcoach News, Progressive Railroading and School Bus Fleet. Emerging players are Streetsblog USA and Cities Today. Broad incumbents are Transport Topics and Fleet Owner.
Does Metro Magazine have an API?
No public API is recorded for Metro Magazine.
What industry is Metro Magazine in?
Metro Magazine's product category is Trade Media — Transit Industry Publication. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJAEAI, Automotive & Transportation Magazines. Its NAICS code is 513120 and its SIC code is 2721.