Affordability of public transport in the United States

PicodiMarch 16, 2020

The importance of public transport is a hot topic not only in the United States but in the whole world. Rising traffic congestion and air pollution are concerns of many cities, keeping authorities awake at night. This is why public transport gains more recognition — it seems like an obvious solution to the problem, and in numerous cities, officials try to encourage commuters to use collective transport. Luxembourg, for example, has recently launched the world’s first free nationwide public transport, not only for its residents but also the tourists. On a smaller scale, various other places, like Tallinn in Estonia or Olympia in the United States, have introduced free public transport for their residents.

What keeps people from using public transport then? Despite its many advantages, some cities struggle to make public transport fast, convenient, and affordable. The price of the daily commute can convince or discourage a citizen from taking the local bus. This is why Picodi Analysis Team decided to examine the prices of monthly passes in the biggest cities of the world and contrast them with average wages to check their affordability.

Prices in selected cities worldwide

Affordability of monthly public transport passes in the biggest cities

The highest prices for a month of unlimited access to public transport were noted in London (around $259), Dublin ($213), and New York ($127). However, when taking into account the average monthly wage, the tables have turned for New York: it ranked 18^th out of 24 cities. It means that an average New Yorker could buy a monthly pass for bus and subway with just 2.4 percent of his net pay ($5,297 according to numbeo.com, as of March 2020).

Londoners are not as lucky — with the average net pay, they would have to spend more than 8 percent of their hard-earned money on public transport pass. In a similar position are people living in Istanbul (9.26 percent). Still, it is the residents of São Paulo who are the worst off: they would have to spend more than 15 percent of their monthly pay to freely ride public transportation.

On the other side are residents of Zürich and Prague, who can enjoy affordable public transport for less than 2 percent of their pay (1.37 and 1.84 percent respectively). But the real winners of the ranking are commuters in Tallinn and Luxembourg, who can ride all public transport for free.

Fares in the United States

Cost of monthly passes in state capitals

Among the state capitals, the most expensive public transport was noted in Salt Lake City, Utah ($198). The variety of services included in the price may explain such amount: a monthly pass holder in SLC can freely use local and express buses, streetcar, light rail system, and commuter rail trains.

Denver ranked second, with $114 for unlimited access to buses and rail services, followed by Sacramento ($100 for bus and light rail pass). Austin and Dover rounded out the top five with $96 for a monthly pass.

The cheapest places to ride public transport are Lincoln in Nebraska and Frankfort in Kentucky, with just $17 and $15 respectively. Public transit riders in Olympia also have a reason to rejoice as they no longer have to pay for bus service since January 1st.

Methodology

The research was based on prices of single tickets and monthly passes collected from local public transport operators, as of March 2020. The average net wages in 39 cities considered in the international ranking come from numbeo.com. For the currency conversion, we used the average Google Finance rates for February 2020.

The ranking includes prices of single tickets and monthly passes that grant unlimited rides for all means of public transport within the city. In the single tickets comparison, the most advantageous price for the commuter was taken into consideration — purchased via mobile application or with the special commuter card (but excluding ticket booklets).

The study does not include Springfield (Illinois), Jefferson City (Missouri), Helena (Montana), and Pierre (South Dakota) because in these cities operators of public transport do not offer monthly passes for commuters.

The study excludes cities where one specific mode of public transport is served by various operators with very different pricing policies (Tokyo, Beijing, Jakarta, Bangkok, and others).

The full list of countries and operators included in the research can be found under the following link.

Sources

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/articles/luxembourg-free-public-transport/
https://theconversation.com/traffic-congestion-reconsidered-111921
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/oct/11/tallinn-experiment-estonia-public-transport-free-cities
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/09/move-olympia-washington-create-zero-fare-public-transit-called-beautiful-thing

Public Use

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About Picodi

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