A QUICK LOOK AT SOME OF THE STATISTICS THAT MAKE YOUR CITIES WORK (OR NOT):
Trips taken on public transportation in US: 10.7 billion
Trips taken each weekday: 35 million
Value of public transit industry: $48.4 billion
Amount of carbon emissions reduced by a person switching to public transit: 4800 pounds/year
Gallons of gasoline saved by public transit users: 4.2 billion gallons
Equivalent to: 3x amount of gasoline imported from Kuwait
New York’s most notorious transit rider: Darius McCollum
Joy rides taken on trains and buses resulting in arrests: 24
Last heavy rail project completed in US: Washington Metro Blue Line
Cost: $695 million or $217 million/mile
Cost to install air-conditioning on Montreal’s public transit system: $50 million
First streetcar in US: Bowery (New York City)
First cable car in the world: Clay Street, San Francisco
Reason for implementing cable: Reduce labour costs and animal hardship
First time bus ridership exceeded street railway ridership: 1940
Largest urban transit system of funiculars: Naples
Capacity of Centrale Line: 3 cars for 450 spaces
$1 billion investment into transit operations: 41,140 jobs created
$1 billion investment into transit capital costs: 23,788 jobs created
Cost to hire a civil engineering grad in India: $255/month
Cost of Detroit’s people mover: $200 million
Initial projections: 50,000 riders/day
Current: 6,000 riders /day – cost per ride at $5 subsidies
International Whaling Commission’s recommended method for euthanizing large whales: Explosives