7 Largest Cities for Public Transportation Ridership - All Modes (best, comparison, population)

[prelude91]

I am on a 4 hour flight and had some time on my hands.....

I looked up the ridership for Heavy Rail, Light Rail, Buses, Commuter Rail. The numbers are pretty interesting:

All numbers are for daily ridership:

New York City:

Subway: 8,360,000
Subway (PATH): 259,1000
Bus: 2,623,100
Commuter (LIRR): 352,000
Commuter (Metro North): 298,500
Total Daily Ridership: 11,892,100


Chicago:

Subway (EL): 713,500
Bus: 998,600
Commuter: 316,800
Total Daily Ridership: 2,028,900


Los Angeles:

Subway: 142,600
Light Rail: 152,400
Bus: 1,125,200
Commuter: 39,600
Total Daily Ridership: 1,459,800


Washington DC:

Subway (Metro): 961,500
Bus: 440,000
Commuter Rail (MARC): 33,700
Commuter Rail (VRE): 19,200
Total Daily Ridership: 1,454,400


Boston:
Subway: 525,600
Light Rail: 233,300
Bus: 397,900
Commuter Rail: 130,600
Total Daily Ridership: 1,287,400


Philadelphia:
Subway: 342,800
Light Rail: 110,600
Bus: 597,300
Commuter Rail: 127,200
Total Daily Ridership: 1,177,900


San Fran:
Subway: 379,300
Light Rail: 162,500
Bus: 492,700
Commuter Rail: 41,400
Total Daily Ridership: 1,075,900


Interesting to see, outside of NYC which is on another level completely, most pretty close together, with Chicago having a about 500,000 more than LA and DC.

I left out suburban bus systems as there were too many to list and none of them had huge numbers.

Also, I didn't know what to do with New Jersey Transit as it is split between Philly and NYC. My guess would be a 2:1 ratio to NYC but that is nothing but a guess.

*Ridership numbers are from Wikipedia, and I am not sure if they are the most up to date.

[munchitup]

No big surprises here IMO. The best news is that all these numbers should be increasing - and in some cities drastically.

LA has a long way to go to catch up in rail ridership. Bus ridership is very impressive and no surprise to me.

[Colts]

I didn't know that Washington had the second busiest subway system. Interesting.

[prelude91]

Originally Posted by munchitup

No big surprises here IMO. The best news is that all these numbers should be increasing - and in some cities drastically.

LA has a long way to go to catch up in rail ridership. Bus ridership is very impressive and no surprise to me.

I've never ridden a bus in LA, but I hear the network is pretty extensive.

[DynamoLA]

Originally Posted by munchitup

No big surprises here IMO. The best news is that all these numbers should be increasing - and in some cities drastically.

LA has a long way to go to catch up in rail ridership. Bus ridership is very impressive and no surprise to me.

Come on Expo Line...

(and Purple Line)
(and Expo part 2)
(and Crenshaw)
(and Gold Line extension)
(and downtown connector)

[OyCrumbler]

Numbers should be about triple what they are for all of these save for NYC

[2Easy]

For buses you'd really have to add in all of the different munis if you want the total. I'd also add NJT commuter rail for NYC.

[grapico]

NYC is insane.

[MDAllstar]

It's a much more interesting comparison when you factor in population.


New York City:

Subway: 8,360,000
Subway (PATH): 259,1000
Bus: 2,623,100
Commuter (LIRR): 352,000
Commuter (Metro North): 298,500
Total Daily Ridership: 11,892,100
Population: 18,897,109 people


Chicago:

Subway (EL): 713,500
Bus: 998,600
Commuter: 316,800
Total Daily Ridership: 2,028,900
Population: 9,461,105 people


Los Angeles:

Subway: 142,600
Light Rail: 152,400
Bus: 1,125,200
Commuter: 39,600
Total Daily Ridership: 1,459,800
Population: 12,828,837 people



Washington DC:

Subway (Metro): 961,500
Bus: 440,000
Commuter Rail (MARC): 33,700
Commuter Rail (VRE): 19,200
Total Daily Ridership: 1,454,400
Population: 5,582,170 people


Boston:

Subway: 525,600
Light Rail: 233,300
Bus: 397,900
Commuter Rail: 130,600
Total Daily Ridership: 1,287,400
Population: 4,552,402 people



Philadelphia:

Subway: 342,800
Light Rail: 110,600
Bus: 597,300
Commuter Rail: 127,200
Total Daily Ridership: 1,177,900
Population: 5,965,343 people


San Fran:

Subway: 379,300
Light Rail: 162,500
Bus: 492,700
Commuter Rail: 41,400
Total Daily Ridership: 1,075,900
Population: 4,335,391 people

[2Easy]

Originally Posted by MDAllstar

It's a much more interesting comparison when you factor in population.

Maybe. But for LA you should at least add the larger munis if you're going to start adding additional counties. Like add OCTA, since Orange County is in that population figure. Plus Long Beach and Santa Monica. I'm sure that other cities like SF and Chicago have similar munis. Not sure about DC.

Los Angeles:

Subway: 142,600
Light Rail: 152,400
Bus: 1,125,200
OCTA: 165,000
LBT: 85,000
BBB: 85,000
Commuter: 39,600
Total Daily Ridership: 1,794,800
Population: 12,828,837 people