EU and US States by Number of Subway Riders

Mar 18, 2019
Subway Riders in EU and US States

The chart above shows the number of subway riders in each state.  France is the only state with over two billion annual riders.

Findings

  • The difference between the state with the most subway riders, France, and the state with the least (that has a subway system), Ohio, is 2,039,500,000 riders.
  • France has 346.68 times the subway riders that Ohio does.
  • Italy has seven subway systems, France has six, the United Kingdom and Germany each have four, Spain and New York each have three, and the Netherlands, Pennsylvania, and California each have two, all other states have one.

Caveats

  • Data is from 2017 except for the Genoa and Rome Metros which are from 2012, the Nuremberg U-Bahn and Athens and Turin Metros which are from 2015, the French, Polish, Romanian, and United Kingdom subways which are from 2016, and the Catania Metro which is from 2018.
  • Greece and Hawaii are currently working on building subway systems for Thessaloniki and Honolulu respectively.
  • All figures are rounded to the nearest hundredth.

Details

France accounts for over one-sixth of all subway riders in the EU and US at 16.52%.  It, with New York make up just under one-third of the subway riders in the EU and US at 31.30%.

Although the EU has the state with the most riders, the US has the subway system with the most.  The New York City Subway is the largest system by number of subway riders in the EU and US with 1,727,300,000 riders.  It is followed by the Paris Metro (1,580,600,000 riders) and the London Underground (1,378,000,000 riders).

There is only one subway system that has less riders than the entirety of Ohio's subway network: the Catania Metro in Italy (5,800,000 riders).

This article focuses exclusively on heavy rail systems as defined by the International Association of Public Transport, the American Public Transportation Association, and the Federal Transit Administration.  A more extensive look into urban/suburban rail systems that encompasses commuter and light rail systems will be posted soon.

Only three cities have more than one heavy rail system as defined by the above institutions (even though the system's name may suggest otherwise): New York with three, and London and Philadelphia with two.

Data

StateCityNameRiders (in millions)
BelgiumBrusselsBrussels Metro151.6
BulgariaSofiaSofia Metro89.7
CaliforniaLos AngelesMetro Rail44.9
CaliforniaSan FranciscoBART129.3
Czech RepublicPraguePrague Metro435.6
DenmarkCopenhagenCopenhagen Metro63.5
FinlandHelsinkiHelsinki Metro67.5
FloridaMiamiMetrorail19.7
FranceLilleLille Metro107.5
FranceLyonLyon Metro198.2
FranceMarseilleMarseille Metro75.9
FranceParisParis Metro1,518.6
FranceRennesRennes Metro34.3
FranceToulouseToulouse Metro110.9
GeorgiaAtlantaMARTA67.4
GermanyBerlinBerlin U-Bahn563
GermanyHamburgHamburg U-Bahn242.5
GermanyMunichMunich U-Bahn410
GermanyNurembergNuremberg U-Bahn128.85
GreeceAthensAthens Metro264.4
HungaryBudapestBudapest Metro410.6
IllinoisChicagoChicago L230.2
ItalyBresciaBrescia Metro17.4
ItalyCataniaCatania Metro5.8
ItalyGenoaGenoa Metro11
ItalyMilanMilan Metro569.5
ItalyNaplesNaples Metro42.5
ItalyRomeRome Metro279
ItalyTurinTurin Metro41.1
MarylandBaltimoreBaltimore Metro Subway10.8
MassachusettsBostonMBTA Subway167.2
NetherlandsAmsterdamAmsterdam Metro73.7
NetherlandsRotterdamRotterdam Metro93
New YorkNew York CityNew York City Subway1,727.3
New YorkNew York CityPATH93
New YorkNew York CityStaten Island Railway8.8
OhioClevelandRTA Rapid Transit: Red Line5.9
PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPATCO Speedline10.8
PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaSEPTA91.8
PolandWarsawWarsaw Metro187.3
PortugalLisbonLisbon Metro161.5
RomaniaBucharestBucharest Metro179.1
SpainBarcelonaBarcelona Metro390.4
SpainBilbaoMetro Bilbao88.2
SpainMadridMadrid Metro626.4
SwedenStockholmStockholm Metro353
United KingdomGlasgowGlasgow Subway11.4
United KingdomLondonDocklands Light Railway122.3
United KingdomLondonLondon Underground1,378
United KingdomNewcastleTyne and Wear Metro37.7
Washington DCWashington, D.C.Washington Metro229.6

Sources

Wikipedia.  2019.  "List of Metro Systems."  Accessed February 24, 2019.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metro_systems.

Filed under: European Union versus United States
Tags: united states, european union, subway, metro systems, comparison