Best Cities for Transit, Ranked

A newly released list from the Oliver Wyman Forum and the University of California Berkeley’s Institute of Transportation Studies ranks transit systems in cities around the world, with Hong Kong coming in first thanks to its “low fares, limited delays or service disruptions, and for supporting itself financially.” Amelia Pollard details the list for Bloomberg CityLab.

One of the keys to Hong Kong’s success, says Andreas Nienhaus of Oliver Wyman, is the city’s willingness to make “individual mobility” less attractive to residents. “They have either large green zones or large car-free zones, or just make it very expensive to drive personal vehicles in the city. And this helps.” Other cities in the top of the list included Zurich, Stockholm, Singapore, and Helsinki. “The report also gives credit to Oslo’s multimodal network that includes park and ride stations, as well as allowing bikes on public transit.”

U.S. cities ranked low “because of their over dependence on cars,” according to Pollard. “Additionally, the report ranks cities on “mobility readiness,” with San Francisco topping the list in part for its EV-charging network. That said, Oliver Wyman points out concerns that San Francisco’s aging infrastructure puts it at risk in a region prone to natural disasters like earthquakes and wildfires.”