Comparing Transit Choice by City

Stephen Hudson has taken ridership data (i..e, unlinked passenger trips) from the Federal Transit Administration and transformed it into an infographic that shows the preferred transit modes in nine U.S. metropolitan areas with high numbers of transit commuters.

The data allows a comparison of transit mode choice between bus, commuter rail, ferry boats, heavy rail, light rail, and other, less common modes of transit. The graph compares Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

"Of these nine metropolitan areas, buses are the most heavily use mode of transit in six of the areas, while heavy rail are most popular only in New York, Washington, and Boston," explains Hudson of one of the findings made clear by the infographic. The article includes more analysis of the transit data, including a specific focus on the Washington, D.C. area.