50 Statistics That Show How Public Transport Makes Cities Better
© Ruter
On 17 April, we celebrate World Public Transport Day. Itʼs a global celebration of what public transport makes possible. The benefits of public transport are wide-ranging – our sector connects lives, shapes places, and powers the future.
Here are 50 statistics and figures collected from around the globe that celebrate the positive impact of public transport!
People: Connecting Lives
Public transport offers affordable mobility for all
#1 In the Netherlands, a car-owning family spends €400 a month on mobility compared to €17 for public transport users.
Source: Access Creates Value
#2 In the United States, low-income households who own a car spend 38% of their net income on mobility. Similar households who use public transport spend just 5%.
Source: Access Creates Value
#3 Demand-responsive transport (DRT) services provided residents in rural Cheshire, UK with reliable mobility at a cost of under £10 per person per year. These minibuses cover previously under- and unserved rural areas and perform three trips an hour.
Source: Shedding a Light on DRT
#4 In a 2022 survey, 72% of commuters in Singapore felt that public transport was affordable. That’s thanks to the Public Transport Council’s (PTC) affordability indicator which monitors spending as a proportion of income for low-income groups. As a result, the average low-income household now spends less on public transport than 10 years ago.
Source: Keeping it Fare: How to Make Public Transport Fares Affordable
Public transport improves accessibility
#5 Some 12% of persons with disabilities cannot use or do not have access to a private car and so rely disproportionately on taxis. This is despite the fact that a UITP survey across 21 European countries showed that more than 3 in 5 persons with disabilities would use cable cars, ride-pooling, micromobility, and robotaxi mobility solutions.
Source: No Passenger Left Behind: Co-Creating Accessible Public Transport
#6 Over 3,000 daily trips were made by passengers with disabilities – an all-time high for Ottawa, Canada – after the city’s Transit Commission optimised their on-demand mobility offer. Strengthened recruitment and training, restructured maintenance workflows, and enhanced mechanic apprenticeships all reduced trip cancellation and improved vehicle availability.
Source: Authorities: Strategic Conditions & Prerequisites
Public transport enhances connectivity
#7 In Dublin, Ireland, it was estimated 10,000 new jobs emerged along Luas light rail corridors.
Source: Access Creates Value
#8 The city of Chicago, USA saw areas around stations outperform the wider region, adding 11,000 jobs, resulting in 1.36% growth through the 2008 recession, while growth in other suburban areas fell 5.25%.
Source: Access Creates Value
#9 Across Medellín in Colombia, 70% of people use public transport to get to work and another 12% to access education.
Source: How Medellín Used Public Transport to Lead Urban Transformation
Public transport promotes a healthy, active lifestyle
#10 Barcelona, Spain estimates that public transport saves €706.5 million in social and environmental costs.
- €559 million (79% of the total) in social savings
- €116 million (16% of the total) in public health savings
- €30.7 million (4% of the total) in environmental savings
Source: Access Creates Value
#11 Train commuters on average walk over 30% more steps per day than car users.
Source: Better Urban Mobility Playbook
Public transport boosts equality
#12 Across Latin America and the Caribbean, public transport accounts for over 30% of daily urban trips and 45% for low-income households. That makes public transport a key factor for social inclusion.
Source: Funding & Financing of Public Transport in Latin America & the Caribbean
#13 UK data show that just 1% faster connectivity reduces employment deprivation by 0.91% on average.
Source: Access Creates Value
#14 The 14 Mission corridor in San Francisco, United States serves 46,000 daily riders, 80% of whom are considered low-income. Redesigning the line with dedicated infrastructure like lanes and signal priority yielded huge benefits:
- 31% cut in trip times
- 25% jump in reliability
- 26,000 more jobs accessible in same half-hour journey
Source: Regions Thrive with Congestion-free Bus Networks
#15 Women are more likely to rely on public transport – for example in Bogotá, Colombia, 5% more women than men ride the city’s BRT.
Source: Integrating gender considerations into public transport policies and operations
#16 London’s low emission zone benefits those in low-income areas the most – these neighbourhoods saw an 80% decrease in illegal pollution levels compared to a citywide average of 49%.
Source: Net-zero Mobility: Social Considerations for Limiting Private Vehicle Access
Public transport makes cities safer
#17 In Washington DC, public transport is considered to be 20 times safer than driving, saving the region $950 million a year in collision costs and avoiding nearly 30 deaths and some 2,500 injuries.
Source: Net-zero Mobility: Social Considerations for Limiting Private Vehicle Access
#18 The construction of BRT in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania cut pedestrian fatalities – in one corridor by as much as 79% between 2015 and 2026.
Source: TRANS-SAFE
#19 Since implementing congestion pricing in New York City, encouraging public transport use over private vehicles, the number of people injured in car crashes has declined 15%.
Source: Net-zero Mobility: Social Considerations for Limiting Private Vehicle Access
Planet: Shaping Places
Public transport uses energy efficiently
#20 Today, public transport saves around 170 million tonnes of oil and around 550 million tonnes of CO2e. At oil’s €77/tonne price in January 2025, that means a saving of €42.3 billion.
Source: Access Creates Value
#21 According to the European Environmental Agency, buses are twice, and rail is four times more energy-efficient than cars.
Source: Better Urban Mobility Playbook
#22 When Montreal, Canada implemented dedicated bus lanes and signal priority across multiple corridors, the efficiency gains enabled STM to save two buses per day from a fleet of 30, cutting emissions by 45 tonnes annually.
Source: Regions Thrive with Congestion-free Bus Networks
#23 Privately owned electric vehicles consume three times more energy per passenger-km than public transport and produce three times more CO2 per passenger.
Source: Better Urban Mobility Playbook
Public transport improves air quality
#24 In eight years of operation, Brazil’s Metro Bahia has prevented the emission of:
- 62.9 tonnes CO₂
- 106 tonnes CH₄
- 4.2 tonnes NOx
- 0.7 tonnes particulate matter
- 3.2 tonnes N₂O
Source: Access Creates Value
#25 London’s low emission zone, which exempts heavily polluting private vehicles, cut annual roadside NO2 pollution by 49% between 2016 and 2023. The number of monitoring sites across the British capital exceeding the legal limit for NO2 fell from 56 sites in 2016 to just five in 2023.
Source: Net-zero Mobility: Social Considerations for Limiting Private Vehicle Access
Public transport uses urban space more efficiently
#26 Mexico City is set to remove 17,000 cars from its streets every year through 2030 thanks to its ‘Less Parking, More City’ plan. The plan will reduce car dependency, boost sustainable mobility, and allow more transit-oriented development by swapping minimum parking requirements for maximum parking allowances.
Source: Net-zero Mobility: Social Considerations for Limiting Private Vehicle Access
#27 Some 30% of private vehicles circulating on streets are looking
for parking places.
Source: Better Urban Mobility Playbook
#28 A study in Bremen, Germany, found that every car-sharing vehicle
replaced 16 privately owned vehicles or prevents their purchase.
Source: Mobility Hubs: Steering the Shift Towards Integrated Sustainable Mobility
Public transport leads to noise reduction in cities
#29 New York City’s congestion pricing zone, which favours the use of public transport over private vehicles, has seen a 70% drop in excessive honking reports.
Source: Access Creates Value
Public transport accelerates a sustainable modal shift
#30 Cities that have strongly invested in extending their metro networks over the past decade have experienced a constant increase in annual ridership. Between 2015 and 2024, cities like New Delhi and Copenhagen more than doubled their passenger numbers, while Dubai and Istanbul’s metros saw total ridership jump well above 50%.
Source: Global Urban Mobility Indicators (coming soon)
#31 83% of commuters in a Sydney, Australia suburb arrived to their local metro station by private car – but nine months after a DRT service was launched by Cooee Busways, more than 3 in 10 of those drivers had sold or were considering selling their cars.
Source: Shedding a Light on DRT
Progress: Powering the Future
Public transport boosts local economies
#32 Direct and indirect economic spillovers are typically five times higher than the initial money invested in the industry. In Barcelona, every €1 spent nets the region €6.5.
Source: Access Creates Value
#33 According to the American Public Transportation Association, every $10 million in operating expenditure in public transport in the United States yields $32 million in increased business sales.
Source: Access Creates Value
#34 5-10% of BVG Berlin’s revenue comes from ancillary sources, a win-win that funds public transport at the same time as supporting local businesses and promotional activities.
Source: Access Creates Value
#35 Bus Rapid Transit systems boosted nearby property values by as much as 14% in Bogotá, Colombia and 10% in Seoul, South Korea. In Kolkata, India, metro proximity increased property prices by 16.5%.
Source: Access Creates Value
#36 Public transport creates 25% more jobs than the same investment in just roads or highways would generate.
Source: The Power of Public Transport (coming soon)
#37 After New York City launched its congestion pricing zone, attendance to Broadway shows jumped 20%, restaurants reservation increased 5%, and retail sales climbed 1.5%. The zone generated $48 million in its first month alone, and $15 billion is already earmarked for public transport improvements.
Source: Access Creates Value
#38 To finance its public transport, Nottingham, UK implemented a workplace parking levy that has generated some £75 million, helping fund an extension of the tram system, redevelop the central station, and support the bus network. The levy ensures a guaranteed revenue stream while good public transport attracts businesses.
Source: Better Urban Mobility Playbook
#39 Across New South Wales in Australia, over 550,000m2 of road space was temporarily pedestrianised as a part of the Open Streets Programme. More than 8,800 local jobs created (4,000+ of them in creative industries) and over 1,600 businesses extended trading hours – with retail turnover jumping around 60%.
Source: Human-centric Approach in Sydney & Melbourne
Public transport provides local, quality jobs
#40 Urban public transport employs around 9 million people. What’s more, this number has increased by 20% over the past decade.
Source: Global Employment in Urban Public Transport
#41 In many cities, public transport is the single biggest employer. Take the German capital of Berlin. Deutsche Bahn provides some 27,400 jobs – more than any other organisation in the city. When you include the local operator BVG (the third biggest employer), public transport employs around 43,900 people.
Source: Access Creates Value
#42 Modelling by the ITF and C40 suggests that in just five major global cities, climate-focused public transport investment could generate 650,000 jobs. Moreover, the study indicates that doubling public transport usage by 2030 could create tens of millions of jobs globally.
Source: Global Employment in Urban Public Transport
Public transport eases congestion
#43 Public transport vehicles operating in dedicated lanes can move as many as 3000 more people per hour than private vehicles, meaning fewer vehicles on the road.
Source: Regions Thrive with Congestion-free Bus Networks
#44 Europe’s economic impact of traffic congestion is estimated at €100 billion or 1% of the EU’s GDP.
Source: Better Urban Mobility Playbook
#45 In 2019 alone, 10 major cities in Latin America and the Caribbean lost 3.07 billion hours and $8.6 billion due to traffic, representing as much as 1.1% of each city’s GDP.
Source: Funding & Financing of Public Transport in Latin America & the Caribbean
Public transport cuts citizen travel times
#46 The efficiency of Metro Bahia in Brazil has cut travel times by up to two hours daily, saving citizens the equivalent of 18 days every year.
Source: Access Creates Value
#47 New York City’s congestion pricing zone boosted road traffic speeds by as much as 30% and local buses are also moving 3.2% faster. This change is set to save between $500 million to $1.3 billion annually.
Source: Access Creates Value, Net-zero Mobility: Social Considerations for Limiting Private Vehicle Access
#48 Montreal, Canada’s dedicated bus infrastructure cut travel times by as much as 18% and improved on-time performance to 94.6%.
Source: Regions Thrive with Congestion-free Bus Networks
#49 Integrating Medellín’s public transport network reduced the average travel time from 90 to 30 minutes – with more than 90% of the passengers reporting time savings coming from lower-income groups.
Source: How Medellín Used Public Transport to Lead Urban Transformation
#50 Thanks to the aerial cableways in Medellín, a physically tough daily trip downtown of two hours was cut to just 30 minutes.
Source: How Medellín Used Public Transport to Lead Urban Transformation
