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A methodological framework is presented for determining the optimal length of transit routes that extend radially from the central business district (CBD) into low density suburbs. The problem of optimal route length may not be considered independently of route location and service scheduling. Therefore, the problem considered in this paper is finding an optimal combination of route length, route spacing, headway and fare which maximize either operator profit or social welfare for an urban corridor with elastic demand. The social welfare objective is optimized with both unconstrained subsidy and break-even constraints. The equations for the optimal design variables which maximize operator profit and social welfare are derived analytically for many-to-one travel patterns. The equations provide considerable insight into the optimality conditions and interrelations among variables. These equations are also incorporated within an efficient algorithm which computes the optimal values of decision variables for a more realistic model with vehicle capacity constraints. The algorithm is applied to a rectangular urban corridor with uniform passenger travel density. The numerical results show that at th