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World trends: Light rail is the fastest growing segment
Over 400 cities world wide have introduced or re-introduced light rail.
There has been a major revival of light rail in the US. There are now:
- 29 cities with operating light rail systems
- 13 cities with expansions or new systems under construction
- Many US cities which previously relied on bus-based transit, such as Houston, Dallas, Charlotte and Denver, have found light rail has been highly successful in turning around the image of public transport, attracting ridership out of cars, improving urban amenity and attracting development around the system.
- Light rail is the fastest growing mode of public transport in the US as the table and graph below indicate.
US Transit Trends by Mode: 1990-2004
| Year |
Bus |
Para transit |
Comm rail |
Heavy rail |
Light rail |
Total |
| 1990 |
20,981 |
431 |
7,082 |
11,475 |
571 |
40,540 |
| 2004 |
21,377 |
962 |
9,719 |
14,354 |
1,576 |
47,988 |
| Growth |
396 |
531 |
2,637 |
2,879 |
1,005 |
7,448 |
| % of Growth |
5.3% |
7.1% |
35.4% |
38.7% |
13.5% |
100.0% |
| Growth % |
1.9% |
123.2% |
37.2% |
25.1% |
176.0% |
18.4% |
| Growth % pa |
0.1% |
5.9% |
2.3% |
1.6% |
7.5% |
1.2% |
Source: Dr Garry Glazebrook
These trends are continuing with the latest US data in the graph below.
Source: Dr Garry Glazebrook
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