Transit Space Race: Mapping Every Transit Project in the United States

The non-profit Reconnecting America has mapped every transit project under construction and planned in the U.S. based on information gathered in 2012 from local sources such as “long range plans, discussions with local officials, and newspaper coverage.” Projects included in this “2013 Transit Space Race,” include traditional heavy rail, light rail, commuter rail, LRT, streetcars, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines with more than 50% right of way dedicated to bus lanes, and even cog railways.

Geographically, the Washington DC/Baltimore area has the most number of projects at 45, followed closely by the Los Angeles Metro region. In contrast, the NYC metro region has only 20 projects, but of course at a much higher cost with the Second Avenue Subway, 7 Line Extension and East Access projects underway.

Reconnecting America has found that both the number of transit projects and projected expenditure has increased since 2011–number of projects by 21% and expenditure by 7.3% up to $250 billion. “In terms of funding and construction,” they write, “Using a rudimentary calculation of existing New Starts funds listed at $1.6 billion per year and assuming a 50 percent local match, it would take 78.1 years to construct all of the lines that have cost estimates.”

One caveat from Reconnecting America is that the map is informational and merely a snapshot in time rather than a “definitive source on the subject matter,” because of the nature of transit projects which change frequently. A full table, downloadable and online, is available at Reonnecting America that lists all the projects and their costs.

Reconnecting America via Planetizen. Get in touch with the author @untappedmich.