Mass transit in the United States lacks mass appeal. In a 2024 study of data from nearly 800 cities, Asian urban residents used public transit for 43 percent of trips; 24 percent of Western Europeans in cities did the same. In American cities, the figure was less than 5 percent.

One significant reason for this disparity is that American governments have typically prioritized building roads over rail lines, and the needs of drivers over bus or subway riders. And because the costs of constructing public transit are much higher in the United States than in other developed countries, new projects are rarer and more slowly built than they ought to be. Other problems flow from the cost issue, such as low service quality: Trains and buses make less frequent stops in the U.S. than in peer nations

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