Leading the way in mass transit is Portland, with their 44-mile Max light-rail system. Nation wide, light rail ridership is up 11.2%, and even buses carry 4.5% more passengers, according to this article at the Economist.
Americans have not always embraced public transport. “We had people carrying signs saying `Light Rail Kills Babies’,” recalls John Inglish, head of the Utah Transit Authority[…], but even Utah’s rider ship is up 39%. Even oil rich areas are feeling the heat, with Denver, Dallas, and St. Louis struggling to expand their systems. In Salt Lake, trains became so full that the light rail suspension sank, preventing the suspended electric line from touching. Passengers had to lean the car in order to proceed!
Finally, I’ll leave you with this fun quote from the article, “Sadly, few people want to ride on buses unless they have to. In many American cities they are the transport of the poor, the drunk and the illegal. They are slow and often smelly, and come at unpredictable intervals. And when they stop, they may block traffic.
Sounds like a certain local transit authority we know!