The 10 US cities with the best public transportation systems

Alex Lasker
Updated
U.S. Cities With The Best Public Transportation Systems Ranked
U.S. Cities With The Best Public Transportation Systems Ranked

Driving to work can be a nightmare.

As cheap gas prices and the strong economy continue putting more motorists on roads, traffic congestion keeps getting worse and worse.

In fact, it has been estimated that the average urban commuter wastes about 42 hours a year stuck in traffic jams -- aka, the time it takes to watch the entire Harry Potter series TWICE.

According to a report published by The Texas Transportation Institute, Washington, D.C. has the worst gridlock in the country, with commuters wasting 82 hours a year stuck in traffic, nearly twice the national average.

But people still have places to go and people see, and thus, they turn to buses, subways and trains to get from A to B.

In light of this, it's no wonder that Washington, D.C. ranks number one on SmartAsset's list of the top 10 best public transportation systems in the country.

To arrive at their ranking, the personal finance website considered following factors:

  • The average commute time for transit users

  • Percentage difference between average commute times of car commuters and transit users

  • Percentage of commuters who use public transit

  • Total number of commuters who use public transit

  • The difference between the citywide median income and the median income of transit users

Coming in second place is San Francisco, which has a large ridership on its cable cars, buses and commuter trains.

In third is the city of Boston which operates extensive subway and bus lines, and provides around 390 million rides annually.

A press release notes a strong annual ridership of more than 200 million trips on the Metro subway and 130 million trips by bus; the typical commute time was also below average.

And rounding out the top five are Chicago and New York City.


Here are the top ten cities in order:

1. Washington, D.C.
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2. San Francisco, California
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3. Boston, Massachusetts
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4. Chicago, Illinois
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5. New York City, New York
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6. Seattle, Washington
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7. Jersey City, New Jersey
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8. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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9. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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10. Oakland, California
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