A Decade of Transit Investments, Quantified

"Cities across the U.S. added more than 1,200 miles of expanded transit service between 2010 and 2019," according to an article by Yonah Freemark. But that proclamation comes with an important caveat: "But all that construction isn’t keeping up with the need."

According to Freemark's survey, documented at the Transit Explorer website, U.S. cities collectively spent about $47 billion to add those 1,200 miles, adding plenty of transit considered by Freemark to be "something more than run-of-the-mill bus routes." The article includes a lot more detail on what Freemark means by transit service improvements—once broken down, however, the data shows that cities added about half of those new transit lines in the form of bus lines, and the other half in rail lines.

Freemark provides more detail about the rail service added in the past decade:

Of those rail projects, just 26 miles were in the form of metro investments—heavy-rail lines like new subways or elevated trains that often carry the most passengers through the densest parts of the country. And just 37 miles were in the form of streetcars, perhaps a surprising fact given the frequent discussion of that transportation mode’s deficiencies.

In terms of the new bus lines added in the past decade, Freemark concludes an unequivocally negative assessment: "American cities have underinvested in expanded quality bus lines."

Freemark took to Twitter to share the findings detailed in this article and to provide additional perspective on the country's transit investments:

From 2010–2019

BRT/ART
- US added 2 miles/million ppl
- France added 10.5 miles

Metros & light rail
- US added <1 miles/million ppl
- France added 3.5 miles

One country added transit riders, the other lost them. Guess which.https://t.co/If8jpZNVu3 pic.twitter.com/T7RYrqDOTU

— Yonah Freemark (@yfreemark) January 7, 2020