THE U.S. WOULD have to spend $230 billion per year for 20 years – a total of $4.6 trillion – across all levels of government to build, operate, and maintain a transit network comparable to the level of service with other global cities and world-class transit systems.
A new report, World-Class American Transit, by Transportation for America details the level of investment needed in each of the 452 urbanized areas with populations of more than 50,000 in the U.S. Those communities are home to 230 million people, nearly 65 percent of the U.S. population.
On average, the 17 global cities in the study scaled its transit fleet with population, averaging more than 130 transit vehicles in service per 100,000 residents. Meanwhile, American counterparts average 27 per 100,000 residents, or about one fifth of the service provided by peer cities.
The report notes that the $4.6 trillion over 20 years would be less than three-quarters of the $6.3 trillion that the U.S. is expected to spend on highways over the same time.
The complete report is available here.