The Largest U.S. City Lacking Mass Transit (2024)

FAQs

What is the largest city in the US without mass transit? ›

With a population of 395,000, Arlington remains the largest U.S. city without a mass public transit system, including bus or rail. Voters have rejected proposals to create public transit three times since 1980, with many residents opposing a bus system.

The country's largest metro system is the New York City Subway which has a system length of 337 kilometers / 209 miles. The country's oldest metro system is the city of Chicago's L Train which began operation in 1892.

With a population of nearly 395,000, Arlington is the largest city in the U.S. without any mass public transportation, according to previous Shorthorn reporting. Yet the city consistently seems to buckle down on car dependency to the point of trying to redefine public transit into city-sponsored private taxi cabs.

There are some claims that American geography makes public transit untenable, but the truth is that our built environment has been created in such a way that people have little choice but to drive. After World War II, car culture and an increased focus on single-family homes built the kind of suburbs we know today.

Karachi, Pakistan, with a population of around 15,400,000, is the largest city without a metro rail system. Instead they are building a “metro bus” system, a network of bus rapid transit which, if complete, will be the largest in the world. Currently only one line is operational.

1) Sitka. Sitka is a city in the state of Alaska that stands as the largest city in the United States by area. It covers a massive area of 2,870.3 square miles.

New York, NY. New York City has the best public transportation in the U.S. by a wide margin. Its subway network alone has 472 stations across four boroughs, just a few dozen fewer than the combined total of all other subway systems in the country. The bus routes don't fall far behind, either, with 327 routes.

In 2023, New York had the busiest heavy rail transit system in the United States at an annual ridership of over two billion passenger trips. Washington, D.C.'s heavy rail network was the second-busiest system in the United States, with over 136 million passenger trips reported in that year.

While Brazilian cities have some of the largest the largest riderships, in terms of length, the largest bus rapid transit system in the world is in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Arlington, Texas has the dubious distinction of being the largest city in the nation with no fixed-route public transit system.

Why is Arlington a county and not a city? ›

In 1922, a decision by the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals declared Arlington a “continuous, contiguous and hom*ogeneous community.” As a result, there are no incorporated towns or cities within Arlington's boundaries.

The Beijing Subway is the world's longest metro network at 815.2 kilometres (507 mi) and the Shanghai Metro has the highest annual ridership at 2.83 billion trips.

Florida's public transportation system offers a variety of modern, practical trolley services across major cities. With very affordable or free fares, and strategic routes along major attractions, Florida trolleys are great for families, groups, or budget-friendly vacations.

Jacksonville, in northeast Florida, is the largest city in area in the contiguous 48 states at 840 square miles (2,175.6 sq km). Jacksonville includes all of Duval County, Florida, with the exception of the beach communities (Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, and Jacksonville Beach) and Baldwin.

The largest city in the world that does not have a subway system is Jakarta. It's a megacity, with more than 30 million inhabitants within its sprawling metropolitan area.

More major railroads serve Chicago than other U.S. city. Six out of the seven existing Class I Railroads in the U.S. – the largest and most profitable railroads – run through the Chicago area.

1. New York, NY. New York City has the best public transportation in the U.S. by a wide margin. Its subway network alone has 472 stations across four boroughs, just a few dozen fewer than the combined total of all other subway systems in the country.