Sweden has since the end of the 1990s, when the environmental objective system was adopted, had the ambitionof being an environmental frontrunner. In line with this, in 2009 the Parliament adopted the goal of achieving afossil free vehicle fleet in 2030. Replacing private car use with public transport is expected to contribute to thisgoal. In 2008, a co-operation between actors in the public transport sector was launched with support from theGovernment with the aim to double its use. Sweden however is a country with important geographical differ-ences. Much of the country is sparsely populated, especially in the north. From previous research it is well knownthat usage of public transport is dependent on population density and accessibility to employment and schools.Understanding how spatial differences influence the cost of public transport provision is therefore crucial whendiscussing if public transport is a cost-efficient way to achieve national goals for the transport sector. In thispaper, Swedish county level panel data, including variables that provide information on geographical differencesbetween the counties, have been used to estimate average marginal costs of boardings. Results show that theseare much lower in the three counties with the largest urbanized areas. In the other counties there is a variationwhich illustrates that there are a number of factors that influence the average marginal costs. In relation to policy, we find that the doubling ambition established in 2008 has not been achieved.