U.S. Intracity Rail Systems

There are only 24 metropolitan areas in the U.S. with intracity passenger rail.

Denver's system currently ranks 16th in the nation, but that will change this November, when the light rail line to the Denver Tech Center opens, and will change again as the FasTracks program is built out over the next twelve years or so. The lines opening in November could bring the Denver metropolitan area to #11 in ridership and #10 in percentage of the metropolitan area population riding rail daily.

There are only nine metropolitan areas in the United States where average intracity rail passangers are more than 2% of the metropolitan area population. Many of these cities also have well used bus systems.

Rail use is closely related to population density. Almost all intracity rail systems in the U.S. are in counties marked in the darkest color on this map.

Consolidated Intracity Rail Traffic (all forms, by metro area)

City----Average Weekday Passengers (Spring 2006)--% of metro population (Pop Density)
1. New York------7,010,500 38% (68,084)
2. Washington D.C.-999,000 21% (9,058)
3. Chicago---------964,200 11% (5,634)
4. Boston----------912,800 21% (11,382)
5. San Francisco---789,300 19% (15,938)
6. Philadelphia----473,100 8% (10,966)
7. Atlanta---------222,700 5% (1,541)
8. Los Angeles-----218,800 2% (2,448)
9. Portland, OR----104,300 5% (1,544)
10. San Diego------100,900 4% (698)
11. Seattle---------74,500 2% (836)
12. Miami, FL-------73,100 1% (1,215)
13. Dallas----------71,200 1% (2,609)
14. St. Louis-------58,700 2% (5,544)
15. Houston---------37,800 1% (2,108)
16. Denver----------30,800 1% (3,631)
17. San Jose--------30,500 2% (1,305)
18. Minneapolis-----28,800 1% (2,014)
19. Cleveland-------28,700 1% (2,947)
20. Pittsburg-------26,000 1% (1,713)
21. Buffalo---------18,000 2% (897)
22. Memphis----------3,000 0.2% (1,205)
23. Harrisburg,PA----1,000 0.4% (482)
24. Galveston----------200 0.1% (718)

The statistics below from the American Public Transportation Association break out the numbers by type of transit. Population density is for the most dense county in the metropolitan area per square mile.

Light Rail

City----Average Weekday Passengers (Spring 2006)

Boston----------200,400
San Francisco---148,200
Los Angeles-----137,700
Portland, OR----104,300
San Diego-------100,900
Philadelphia-----68,600
Dallas-----------62,400
St. Louis--------58,700
Newark-----------51,700
Houston----------37,800
Denver-----------30,800
San Jose---------30,500
Minneapolis------28,800
Pittsburg--------26,000
Buffalo----------18,000
Cleveland---------9,700
Memphis-----------3,000
Galveston-----------200
Seattle---------------0

Commuter Rail

City----Average Weekday Passengers (Spring 2006)
New York -------342,700
Newark----------308,700
Chicago---------305,100
Boston----------136,500
Philadelphia----107,200
Los Angeles------41,900
San Carlos-------34,200
N. Indiana-------14,900
Alexandria,VA----14,500
Miami,FL---------11,100
Dallas------------8,600
Oceanside,CA------6,100
Harrisburg,PA-----1,000

Heavy Rail

City----Average Weekday Passengers (Spring 2006)
New York------6,034,100
Washington D.C.-984,500
Chicago---------644,200
Boston----------464,700
San Francisco---345,000
Philadelphia----298,300
New Jersey------226,700
Atlanta---------222,700
Los Angeles-----139,200
Miami, FL--------62,000
Lindenwood,NJ----33,100
Cleveland--------19,000
Staten Island----13,500

Trolleybus Agencies

City----Average Weekday Passengers (Spring 2006)
San Francisco----245,800
Seattle-----------74,500
Boston------------11,400