List of United States rapid transit systems by ridership

The following is a list of all heavy rail rapid transit systems in the United States, ranked by average weekday ridership. All figures are average weekday unlinked passenger trips (i.e. line transfers on multiline systems register as separate trips). The data is provided by the American Public Transportation Association

American Public Transportation Association

The American Public Transportation Association is a non-profit organization which serves as an advocate for the advancement of public transportation programs and initiatives in the United States. Since its founding in 1882, APTA has educated the public about the benefits of public transportation...

's Ridership Reports Statistics for the first quarter of 2011, unless otherwise noted. Dates are provided for all figures and the most recent data is used.
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Rank	System	Largest city served	Weekday ridership	Route length	Weekday ridership per mile	As of	Opened
1	New York City Subway New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit... **	New York City New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...		Q2 2011	1904	468	24
2	WMATA Metrorail Washington Metro The Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name... **	Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....		Q2 2011	1976	86	5
3	CTA Chicago Transit Authority Chicago Transit Authority, also known as CTA, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Chicago, Illinois and some of its surrounding suburbs.... 'L' Chicago 'L' The L is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs. It is operated by the Chicago Transit Authority... **	Chicago Chicago Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...		Q2 2011	1893	144	8
4	BART Bay Area Rapid Transit Bay Area Rapid Transit is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The heavy-rail public transit and subway system connects San Francisco with cities in the East Bay and suburbs in northern San Mateo County. BART operates five lines on of track with 44 stations in four counties... * and **	San Francisco		Q2 2011	1972	44	5
5	SEPTA Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority is a metropolitan transportation authority that operates various forms of public transit—bus, subway and elevated rail, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolley bus—that serve 3.9 million people in and around Philadelphia,... Market-Frankford and Broad Street Broad Street Line The Broad Street Line is a rapid transit line operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority that runs from Fern Rock Transportation Center in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Pattison Avenue in South Philadelphia... Lines* and **	Philadelphia		Q2 2011	1907	50	2
6	MBTA Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, often referred to as the MBTA or simply The T, is the public operator of most bus, subway, commuter rail and ferry systems in the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area. Officially a "body politic and corporate, and a political subdivision" of the... (or "The T") Red Red Line (MBTA) The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the MBTA running roughly north-south through Boston, Massachusetts into neighboring communities. The line begins west of Boston, in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Alewife station, near the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Route 2... , Orange Orange Line (MBTA) The Orange Line is one of the four subway lines of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. It extends from Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain, Boston in the south to Oak Grove in Malden, Massachusetts in the north. It meets the Red Line at Downtown Crossing, the Blue Line at State, and the Green... , and Blue Blue Line (MBTA) The Blue Line is one of four subway lines of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority serving Downtown, East Boston and the North Shore. It runs from northeast to southwest, extending from Wonderland station in Revere, Massachusetts to Bowdoin station near Beacon Hill in Boston... Lines* and **	Boston		Q2 2011	1897	51	3
7	PATH Port Authority Trans-Hudson PATH, derived from Port Authority Trans-Hudson, is a rapid transit railroad linking Manhattan, New York City with Newark, Harrison, Hoboken and Jersey City in metropolitan northern New Jersey... * and **	New York City New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...		Q2 2011	1908	13	4
8	MARTA Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority or MARTA is the principal rapid-transit system in the Atlanta metropolitan area and the ninth-largest in the United States. Formed in 1971 as strictly a bus system, MARTA operates a network of bus routes linked to a rapid transit system consisting...	Atlanta Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...		Q2 2011	1979	38	4
9	Los Angeles County Metro Rail Los Angeles County Metro Rail Metro Rail is the rapid transit rail system consisting of five separate lines serving 70 stations in the Los Angeles County, California area. The new Expo line is due to enter service in early 2012. It connects with the Metro liner bus rapid transit system and also with the Metrolink commuter... Red and Purple Metro Purple Line (LACMTA) The Purple Line is a subway line operating between Downtown Los Angeles and Mid-Wilshire/Koreatown, Los Angeles, California in Los Angeles; one of five lines on the Metro Rail System.... Lines* and **	Los Angeles Los Angeles, California Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...		Q2 2011	1993	16	2
10	Metrorail ** †	Miami Miami, Florida Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...		Q2 2011	1984	22	1
11	Baltimore Metro Subway* and **	Baltimore		Q2 2011	1983	14	1
12	Tren Urbano Tren Urbano The Tren Urbano — or Urban Train in English — is a fully automated rapid transit that serves the metropolitan area of San Juan, which includes the municipalities of San Juan, Bayamón and Guaynabo. It is electrified by third rail at 750 V DC...	San Juan San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...		Q2 2011	2004	16	1
13	PATCO Speedline*	Philadelphia		Q2 2011	1936	13	1
RTA Rapid Transit RTA Rapid Transit RTA Rapid Transit is a rapid transit and light rail system in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County owned by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority... Red Line Red Line (Cleveland) The Red Line is a rapid transit line of the RTA Rapid Transit in Cleveland, Ohio, running from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport northeast to Tower City in downtown Cleveland, then east and northeast to Windermere... *	Cleveland Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...		Q2 2008	1955	18	1
15	Staten Island Railway Staten Island Railway The Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority, publicly known as MTA Staten Island Railway or SIR, is the operator of the lone rapid transit line in the borough of Staten Island, New York City, USA...	New York City New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...		Q2 2011	1860	22	1

Those systems marked with an asterisk (*) offer connection to a light rail

Light rail

Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...

system; only the parts of the systems that are not light rail are counted in the statistics presented here.

Those systems marked with a double asterisk (**) offer connections to commuter rail systems.

(†)The Miami Metrorail connects with Metromover

Metromover

The Miami Metromover, officially Metromover, is a free rapid transit automated people mover train system operated by Miami-Dade Transit in Miami, Florida, United States. Metromover serves Downtown Miami, Brickell, Park West and Omni neighborhoods. Metromover connects directly with Metrorail at...

; only figures for Metrorail are counted in these statistics

See also