The 10 Worst Transit Cities: US Metro Areas Where Taking the Bus or Rail May Just Crush Your Soul

Ray Delahanty | CityNerd March 16, 2022
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Ray Delahanty | CityNerd

@citynerd

About

CityNerd is a channel and community that embraces all things cities and transportation, approaching things with a profound love for urban environments and an analytical bent. The channel was born out of my frustration over the limited scope of things I was able to explore and share as a transportation planning and engineering consultant. Soon after starting the channel, I was shocked/delighted by the number of viewers who were enthusiastic about the topics I was covering. Quickly, I had more video ideas than I knew what to do with! (Still do.) Every aspect of CityNerd is currently produced by yours truly (Ray Delahanty). Research, writing, on-camera "talent" (cough cough), editing, engaging with viewers....yeah, it's all me. I'll update this description just as soon as I hire a crack team of researchers and cinematographers. Check out my social media links if you're looking for more (yeah that's all me, too), and reach out to Nerd email re: collaboration, sponsorship, etc. Thanks!

Video Description

What are the worst cities in America in 2022 for public transportation? In a previous video we looked at the ten US urbanized areas under a million with the highest transit ridership (Small Cities, Big Transit), and today we flip the script: it's the ten US urbanized areas over a million population with the lowest transit ridership. Our journey today mostly focuses on workhorse bus systems, but we'll also look at new bus rapid transit lines, light rail, modern streetcars (urban circulators), water taxis, people movers, and incredibly illegible bus stops -- and we'll even do a side trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico to look at Publicos and the Tren Urbano. It's a lot of transit modes...and not much ridership. Fun times! Other CityNerd videos referenced in this video: - North America's Best Public Markets: https://youtu.be/l10sV15O2a4 - Top 10 Cities for Ferry Travel: https://youtu.be/PUaNGCY6JZo - Top 10 North American Cities for BRT: https://youtu.be/YH0XdrD7Gnw - Top 10 Small Cities with Big Transit Ridership: https://youtu.be/Ftenw2IsJDY - 10 Biggest Freeway Interchanges: https://youtu.be/4rgH0MUaHx8 - 10 Most Freeway Heavy Downtowns: https://youtu.be/WYsJx1urS3Y - 10 Best Existing Freeway Lids: https://youtu.be/Bp0faVOdf2c - 10 Best Place to Build New Freeway Lids: https://youtu.be/K6xyOCEpAVU - 10 Most Urbanist NBA/NHL Arenas: https://youtu.be/Tpg7atI59A0 - 10 Walkable Neighborhoods in Unwalkable Cities: https://youtu.be/C1hUR5v4aok Transit Agencies referenced in this video: - Sacramento Regional Transit District: http://www.sacrt.com/ - TECO Streetcar: http://www.tecolinestreetcar.org/#/home - Hillsborough Transit Authority: http://www.gohart.org/ - Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority: https://www.psta.net/ - Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority: https://www.go-metro.com/ - Jacksonville Transportation Authority: https://www.jtafla.com/ - JTA Ultimate Urban Circulator: https://u2c.jtafla.com/ - Kansas City Regional Transit: https://ridekc.org/ - San Bernardino County OmniTrans: https://omnitrans.org/ - sbX Green Line: https://omnitrans.org/routes/sbx-green-line/ - Riverside Transit Agency: https://www.riversidetransit.com/ - Detroit Department of Transportation: https://detroitmi.gov/departments/detroit-department-transportation - Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation: https://www.smartbus.org/ - Hampton Roads Transit: https://gohrt.com/ - IndyGo: https://www.indygo.net/ - Dallas Area Rapid Transit: https://www.dart.org/maps/printrailmap.asp - Memphis Area Transit Authority: https://www.matatransit.com/ Other Resources: - "Why Public Transportation Works Better Outside the U.S." by Jonathan English for Bloomberg City Lab, available at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-10/why-public-transportation-works-better-outside-the-u-s - UITP (international transit data): https://www.uitp.org/data/ National Transit Database: https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd Urbanized Area (UZA) definition: "An area defined by the U. S. Census Bureau that includes: - One or more incorporated cities, villages, and towns (central place) - The adjacent densely settled surrounding territory (urban fringe) that together has a minimum of 50,000 persons The urban fringe generally consists of contiguous territory having a density of at least 1,000 persons per square mile. Urbanized areas do not conform to congressional districts or any other political boundaries." Wikipedia page on Metropolitan Statistical Areas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_statistical_area Photo/Video Credits: - Cincinnati Race Street Subway Station By Jonathan Warren - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15406114 - Jacksonville Skyway By Aaron Clausen - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33202764 Music: CityNerd background: Caipirinha in Hawaii by Carmen María and Edu Espinal (YouTube music library) Twitter: @nerd4cities Instagram: @nerd4cities Contact: [email protected]

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