Here’s a fun not-so-little graphic from the folks at GOOD. It takes the top five rapid transit systems in the US and compares them to five of the most well-known metro systems in the world. The American systems have comparable miles of track laid, but don’t have the ridership of other systems worldwide. It just seems that systems in the US are not able to attract the ridership that is found overseas. New York comes the closest. It could possibly be explained by urban form factor. Asian and European cities are designed to be dense and well-served by transit in their cores. American cities are designed, for the most part, around the automobile.
metro babel 