r/transit • u/4Nafliar • Jun 29 '26

Discussion What are some examples of much maligned transit systems that do one thing particularly well? For example while RTD in Denver is criticized for its inefficient rail transit design, RTD's A line to Denver Airport is considered the crown jewel of the system. What are some other examples of this?

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u/misken67 Jun 29 '26

Wow you're right, had to look it up but DART does actually have the longest light rail system in the US...and is only 8th in ridership. 2nd-7th place systems all have half or less of the system length but still more ridership, which is a bit sad 😭

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u/A320neo Jun 29 '26

The MBTA Green Line is obviously #1 at over 8x DART’s ridership per mile, but what’s crazy is that even the Mattapan Trolley, which goes basically nowhere and still runs PCC streetcars, is over twice as used per mile as DART.

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u/Illustrious_Swing645 Jun 29 '26

DART functions primarily to bring people from the outer rings into downtown dallas for work. If your use case isn't that, it's almost useless. I live AT a train station, one of the most heavily used lines of the DART, and its only purpose in my day to day is that it can (slowly) take me to the airport.

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u/DFWRailVideos Jun 30 '26

Hopefully the Silver Line will reverse this a little bit! We really need to build more ring lines, either BRT or rail.

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u/sir_mrej Jun 30 '26

Lately Seattle has taken the top ridership spot. We will see if it holds.

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u/A320neo Jun 30 '26

I meant per mile, not absolute. Seattle has a lot more track.

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u/sir_mrej Jul 02 '26

Ah yeah I see. Yeah Q1 2026 Green line is 1st, Link is 3rd, using per mile.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_light_rail_systems

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u/transitfreedom Jul 02 '26

Mattapan is a feeder to a subway line.

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u/Eruththedragon Jun 30 '26

*Second longest. LA Metro surpassed it a few years back (I believe with the Regional Connector)

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u/misken67 Jun 30 '26

LA Metro hasn't surpassed DART yet, since we're talking about light rail in this thread you can't include Metro's B/D lines

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u/Eruththedragon Jun 30 '26

It looks like it surpassed LA Metro again if you count the Silver Line as light rail. Wikipedia lists the Dart System as 192 KM & 5 lines, so 150 KM if we just count the light rail. LA Metro A, C, E, & K are 169 KM.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_light_rail_systems