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I dreamed up these sentences. Are there any differences between "passenger count" and "passenger number" in terms of usage and meaning?

Beijing's subway has the largest annual passenger number in the country.

Beijing's subway has the largest annual passenger count in the country.

The island’s total visitor number increased by 1 million.

The island’s total visitor count increased by 1 million.

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"Passenger number" and "visitor number" aren't really correct here. "Number of passengers" or "number of visitors" would be correct - i.e., would have the same meaning as "passenger count" and "visitor count," respectively.

"Passenger number," for instance, sounds like a specific number assigned to a passenger - like, a number printed on the passenger's ticket or something.

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  • Thank you very much for your answer. What if I use the plural "passenger numbers"? Does it mean the same as "passenger count"?
    – newbie forever
    Commented Oct 13, 2022 at 14:16
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    Hmm, that might actually get you a little closer, but still isn't quite right. "Numbers" sounds to me like a somewhat uncertain/inexact amount in this context. You might say, for instance, "the visitor numbers have gone up" and that would mean a general increase. My gut feeling is you wouldn't, however, say "the total visitor numbers increased by X," because in that case you have X, the exact amount.
    – cruthers
    Commented Oct 13, 2022 at 14:30
  • Thanks again. But I found many examples that say passenger numbers have gone up by x%. Can you open this link? ludwig.guru/s/passenger+numbers
    – newbie forever
    Commented Oct 13, 2022 at 14:34
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    Passenger numbers seems fine to me.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Oct 13, 2022 at 14:38
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    Yeah, see, most of those examples in the link are pretty vague. With the percentage maybe it sounds ok, even though that's a bit clearer in amount, but you're still left wondering (sometimes) what the % even means - passengers who travelled at all, even once? Total trips? How are round-trips counted? So I feel like the plural "numbers" is more often used when there is some lack of detail. The following would sound weird to me: "Passenger numbers increased by 4,328."
    – cruthers
    Commented Oct 13, 2022 at 14:43

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