Best public transportation in the US? Here’s where California metros rank in new study

Hanh Truong
·1 min read

California has some of the best public transportation, according to a new study.

Hire a Helper, a moving service, released a 2023 ranking of metropolitan areas in the United States with the top public transit. Using data from the Federal Transit Administration and Census, the service assessed factors such as yearly public transit trips per resident and the share of workers who use it to commute. It also looked at commute time difference, safety and security, ADA accessibility and mechanical failures.

Several California cities ranked high on the lists of multi-sized metros. According to the study large metros include a population size of more than 1 million, mid-sized metros are 350,000 to 999,999 and small metros are 100,000 to 349,999.

For large metros, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley made it on the top 15 list at No. 14 and No. 4, respectively.

Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom made it at No. 38.

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria in the DC, Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia area ranked No. 1.

The biggest metro with the worst public transportation is Tusla, Oklahoma, according to the study.

More rankings

California’s mid-size metros also made it in the top 15 with Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura rounding out the list.

For small metros, Santa Cruz-Watsonville ranked at No. 12.

Overall, San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley is the highest-ranking California area with the best public transit, standing at No. 8. Ithaca, New York is No. 1 and Tusla is the worst at No. 201.

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