Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This is a joke, right? ? Seattle belongs at the very top of Class C. Denver’s transit system is pretty poor. The rail is suburban and park and ride oriented and the bus system is weak. Seattle has nearly triple the transit share of Denver (and much higher than LA and Atlanta as well) and its light rail is more like a heavy rail system and is expanding in denser areas rapidly. I’d also put Portland and Pittsburgh above Denver.
Recurring theme in these types of threads:
Give Seattle credit for things that haven't been built yet while ignoring existing rail in Los Angeles. "Transit share" is a very good way to get around the fact that Seattle has less LRT than Pittsburgh I suppose.
We can cherry pick the kinds of metrics we like to give one place an advantage, or we can look at the fact that as of today, Los Angeles has five times as much operational track as Seattle, built over one of the largest interurban rail grids the world has ever seen.
Give Seattle credit for things that haven't been built yet while ignoring existing rail in Los Angeles. "Transit share" is a very good way to get around the fact that Seattle has less LRT than Pittsburgh I suppose.
We can cherry pick the kinds of metrics we like to give one place an advantage, or we can look at the fact that as of today, Los Angeles has five times as much operational track as Seattle, built over one of the largest interurban rail grids the world has ever seen.
RowHomeCity left Seattle off the list, that's why people are reacting.
That's some great news in regards to the reopening of cities and SD's upcoming Mid-Coast Trolley extension. It'll be interesting to see if SD maintains the second place spot as things continue to open up. I do think Boston's light rail ridership will end up overtaking it for the annual count, but who knows!
There are some pretty substantial light rail projects slated for opening within a year or so from now. LA has the Crenshaw line, SD the aforementioned Mid-Coast Trolley, Boston with the GLX project, Seattle with the Northgate link, SF with the MUNI Central Subway, and the big one (a bit over a year from now) being the Los Angeles Regional Connector. I think LA's going to take top spot this year and the next and for the foreseeable future and it'll be a race for second this year between Boston and SD.
Seattle is in the C category. And I guess if we want to look at specifics, Seattle and LA would rank in the C+ category...With cities like Denver and Atlanta in the C or C- category...
San Diego... while making strides is still definitely in the D category and is still mostly auto oriented in terms of ridership share...
I will say Phoenix and San Diego are definitely making some positive improvements in light rail investment though and it should be noted as a positve.
Revised list below:
Class A
1) NYC
2) Chicago
3) DC
Class B+
All tied...
4) Philadelphia
4) San Fran
4) Boston
Class C+
7) Los Angeles
8) Seattle
Class C
9) Atlanta
10) Denver
11) Pittsburgh
Class C-
12) Baltimore
13) Portland
Class D
14) Miami
15) Dallas
16) San Diego
17) Houston
Class D-
18) Raleigh
19) Cleveland
20) Austin
Class F)
The rest... because transit infrastructure is so poor or service so infrequent, or the system serves so little of the population it is just not a viable and positive option to live a car free lifestyle.
In terms of all forms of public transit and the % of use... these rankings are fairly accurate when you aggregate all the data and rank each metro/city.
Last edited by rowhomecity; 04-22-2021 at 07:28 PM..
Seattle is in the C category. And I guess if we want to look at specifics, Seattle and LA would rank in the C+ category...With cities like Denver and Atlanta in the C or C- category...
San Diego... while making strides is still definitely in the D category and is still mostly auto oriented in terms of ridership share...
I will say Phoenix and San Diego are definitely making some positive improvements in light rail investment though and it should be noted as a positve.
Revised list below:
Class A
1) NYC
2) Chicago
3) DC
Class B+
All tied...
4) Philadelphia
4) San Fran
4) Boston
Class C+
7) Los Angeles
8) Seattle
Class C
9) Atlanta
10) Denver
11) Pittsburgh
Class C-
12) Baltimore
13) Portland
Class D
14) Miami
15) Dallas
16) San Diego
17) Houston
Class D-
18) Raleigh
19) Cleveland
20) Austin
Class F)
The rest... because transit infrastructure is so poor or service so infrequent, or the system serves so little of the population it is just not a viable and positive option to live a car free lifestyle.
In terms of all forms of public transit and the % of use... these rankings are fairly accurate when you aggregate all the data and rank each metro/city.
Raleigh doesn't even have light rail. What happened to Charlotte and Sacramento? They both have good rail service for their size and have developed tons of t.o.d.
Raleigh doesn't even have light rail. What happened to Charlotte and Sacramento? They both have good rail service for their size and have developed tons of t.o.d.
Also Phoenix, a decent system that is aggressively being expanded. San Jose probably should rank somewhere....and how did Minneapolis and St. Louis get left out of all of this?
Seattle has a system a little over 1/3 the size of San Diego with less than half the ridership and gets put in a class with Los Angeles (105 miles of LRT/HRT combined) for what reason again?
Some of this just seems like pick the city you like and boost it to the top with little or no supporting evidence.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
