Richmond ranked 4th best U.S. city for public transportation by ConsumerAffairs

(STACKER) — ConsumerAffairs has named Richmond the fourth best city in the United States for public transportation.

The ConsumerAffairs Research Team investigated and ranked the nation’s 50 largest cities to see which have the best public transit systems. The analysis is based on 2022 data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Transit Database , and takes into account how useful, safe, affordable and efficient transit services are.

Here’s how the cities stacked up:

1. New York, New York

• Annual public transit trips per metro area resident: 144.2
• Share of stations ADA-compliant: 51.4%
• Safety score (combining fatalities and serious injuries): 13.07 out of 20
• Average fare revenue per trip: $1.75

The nation’s most populous metro area is served by a large number of transit agencies, with trains and buses covering the five boroughs of New York City itself, as well as areas well into New Jersey, Connecticut and the rest of New York. While the average fare revenue is higher than most, it’s still cheaper per trip than in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Buffalo, New York.

2. San Francisco, California

• Annual public transit trips per metro area resident: 53.6
• Share of stations ADA-compliant: 97%
• Safety score (combining fatalities and serious injuries): 13.91 out of 20
• Average fare revenue per one-way trip: $1.63

With the third-worst commuter traffic in the nation, San Francisco residents might be desperate for other ways to get around. Fortunately, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) connects the city with its suburbs and the MUNI bus and train system – including the city’s famous cable cars – gets people around the city itself. There are also free shuttles to get people to and from public parks.

3. Los Angeles, California

• Annual public transit trips per metro area resident: 29
• Share of stations ADA-compliant: 100%
• Safety score (combining fatalities and serious injuries): 16.48 out of 20
• Average fare revenue per one-way trip: 49 cents

Los Angeles, well known as a sprawling car-oriented metropolis, has a transit system that doesn’t get as much use per capita as other cities’ services. However, it’s one of the safest and most affordable transit systems nationwide.

4. Richmond, Virginia

• Annual public transit trips per metro area resident: 8.5
• Share of stations ADA-compliant: 100%
• Safety score (combining fatalities and serious injuries): 18.27 out of 20
• Average fare revenue per one-way trip: 24 cents

With free local bus fares across the city, including high-speed buses with some dedicated lanes that provide service every 10 minutes on weekdays and every 15 minutes on weekends, Richmond’s public transit system is safer and more efficient than many other large cities’ services. Unfortunately, it is used less frequently than any other system mentioned in the top 10 list.

5. San Diego, California

• Annual public transit trips per metro area resident: 21
• Share of stations ADA-compliant: 100%
• Safety score (combining fatalities and serious injuries): 14.74 out of 20
• Average fare revenue per one-way trip: $1.10

A new safety initiative, expanded service and upcoming investments in new vehicles, including electric buses, are drawing riders to San Diego’s trolleys and buses, which serve the downtown area and the surrounding communities.

6. San Antonio, Texas

• Annual public transit trips per metro area resident: 12.6
• Share of stations ADA-compliant: 100%
• Safety score (combining fatalities and serious injuries): 18.44 out of 20
• Average fare revenue per one-way trip: 58 cents

San Antonio’s bus service spans the city and is set to expand in the coming years. The agency that runs it, VIA Metropolitan Transit, is also working to make its service schedules and maps more comprehensible to prospective users. The city is also considering new zoning rules that would make denser housing along high-capacity bus lines easier for developers to build.

7. Boston, Massachusetts

• Annual public transit trips per metro area resident: 47.5
• Share of stations ADA-compliant: 78%
• Safety score (combining fatalities and serious injuries): 14.57 out of 20
• Average fare revenue per one-way trip: $1.63

In Boston, a city well known for confounding even local drivers with one-way streets and hairpin turns, it’s tempting to let someone else handle navigation. Even with a relatively expensive average fare and incomplete ADA compliance at stations, the city’s MBTA trains and buses are relied on more heavily than transit vehicles in other large cities.

8. Seattle, Washington

• Annual public transit trips per metro area resident: 36.7
• Share of stations ADA-compliant: 99.1%
• Safety score (combining fatalities and serious injuries): 14.52 out of 20
• Average fare revenue per one-way trip: $1.57

Seattle’s public transit system, which includes buses, trains and ferries, links its suburbs, downtown area and nearby islands. In 2024, the city is asking voters to raise their taxes to pay for a 20-year transportation plan that includes pothole repair and expanded transit services.

9. Washington, D.C.

• Annual public transit trips per metro area resident: 36.7
• Share of stations ADA-compliant: 100%
• Safety score (combining fatalities and serious injuries): 15.41 out of 20
• Average fare revenue per one-way trip: $1.29

The D.C. area’s roads are so congested that locals joke that there is no rush hour at all — except all the time. Fortunately, the area’s trains, buses and subways, run by city officials and state and local agencies in neighboring Maryland and Virginia, get people around safety and quickly.

10. Salt Lake City, Utah

• Annual public transit trips per metro area resident: 26.7
• Share of stations ADA-compliant: 100%
• Safety score (combining fatalities and serious injuries): 11.83 out of 20
• Average fare revenue per one-way trip: $1.07

Bus and rail lines crisscross the city and the surrounding county. The city’s plans for transit expansion call for additional services by 2030 and are being used to tempt Olympic officials to consider the city as the host of the 2034 Winter Games.

Methodology

The ConsumerAffairs Research Team conducted a comprehensive analysis of the public transit systems in the 50 most populous metropolitan areas across the United States and scored each on a point scale from zero to 100. To determine which cities had the best public transportation, they looked at the following metrics:

• Usefulness to riders: We defined how useful a transit system was to its city’s residents based on three factors:
  • First, we calculated how many independent passenger trips the population took in 2022 in relation to the metro area’s population. This information was based on the National Transit Database annual metrics for 2022 . (25 possible points)
  • Second, we calculated how far passengers traveled in 2022 per resident in the metro area. (20 possible points)
  • Third, we looked at how easy the main public transit system was to access for people with physical disabilities. We used the 2022 National Transit Database information on transit stations to calculate the percentage of all ADA-compliant systems. (10 possible points)
• Safety : Based on the National Transit Database’s Safety & Security Major Event Time Series data for 2022, we calculated the number of major events, including collisions and derailments, per vehicle revenue mile in 2022. (10 possible points)
  • We also calculated the rate of fatalities and injuries in major events per 2022 vehicle revenue mile. (5 possible points each)
• Affordability: We looked at the fare revenue per unlinked passenger trip based on the National Transit Database annual metrics for 2022 . We compared that with the median household income in 2022 for that metro area according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey . (15 possible points)
• Efficiency: We determined the average operating cost per passenger mile based on the National Transit Database annual metrics for 2022 . (10 possible points)

This story was produced by ConsumerAffairs and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRIC ABC 8News.