The vast majority of passenger travel in the United States occurs by automobile for shorter distances and airplane or railroad for longer distances. Most cargo in the U.S. is transported by, in descending order, railroad, truck, pipeline, or boat; air shipping is typically used only for perishables and premium express shipments. Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.
The United States Department of Transportation is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet.
The Research Triangle Regional Public Transportation Authority, known as GoTriangle, provides regional bus service to the Research Triangle region of North Carolina in Wake, Durham, and Orange counties. The GoTriangle name was adopted in 2015 as part of the consolidated GoTransit branding scheme for the Triangle. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 1,735,700, or about 6,100 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
The Silver Line is a system of bus routes in Boston and Chelsea, Massachusetts, operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). It is operated as part of the MBTA bus system, but branded as bus rapid transit (BRT) as part of the MBTA subway system. Six routes are operated as part of two disconnected corridors. As of 2019, weekday ridership on the Silver Line was 39,000.
Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) is the primary public transit authority of Miami, Florida and the greater Miami-Dade County area. It is the largest transit system in Florida and the 15th-largest transit system in the United States. As of 2023, the system has 80,168,700 rides per year, or about 279,400 per weekday in the first quarter of 2024. MDT operates the Metrobus with their paratransit STS systems run by LSF. MDT also operates two rail transit systems: Metrorail and Metromover.
Paratransit or Intermediate Public Transport, is a type of transportation services that supplement fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. Paratransit services may vary considerably on the degree of flexibility they provide their customers. At their simplest they may consist of a taxi or small bus that will run along a more or less defined route and then stop to pick up or discharge passengers on request. At the other end of the spectrum—fully demand responsive transport—the most flexible paratransit systems offer on-demand call-up door-to-door service from any origin to any destination in a service area. In addition to public transit agencies, paratransit services may be operated by community groups or not-for-profit organizations, and for-profit private companies or operators.
Copley station is an underground light rail station on the MBTA Green Line, located in the Back Bay section of Boston, Massachusetts. Located in and named after Copley Square, the station has entrances and exits along Boylston Street and Dartmouth Street.
The Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 provided $375 million for large-scale urban public or private rail projects in the form of matching funds to cities and states. The Urban Mass Transportation Administration was created. It provided capital grants for up to 50% of the cost of transit improvements.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) oversees roads, public transit, aeronautics, and transportation licensing and registration in the US state of Massachusetts. It was created on November 1, 2009, by the 186th Session of the Massachusetts General Court upon enactment of the 2009 Transportation Reform Act.
The United States is serviced by a wide array of public transportation, including various forms of bus, rail, ferry, and sometimes, airline services. Most established public transit systems are located in central, urban areas where there is enough density and public demand to require public transportation. In more auto-centric suburban localities, public transit is normally, but not always, less frequent and less common. Most public transit services in the United States are either national, regional/commuter, or local, depending on the type of service. Sometimes "public transportation" in the United States is an umbrella term used synonymously with "alternative transportation", meaning any form of mobility that excludes driving alone by automobile. This can sometimes include carpooling, vanpooling, on-demand mobility, infrastructure that is oriented toward bicycles, and paratransit service. There is public transit service in most US cities.
The Monroe County Transit Authority (MCTA), also known as the Pocono Pony, is a public transportation service that services Monroe County, Pennsylvania. It provides rural and inter-city fixed route bus and paratransit service within the county. MCTA is funded in part by PennDOT, the Federal Transit Administration, local match and farebox revenue.
The HUD Reports were a series of studies in mass transit systems, funded by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) department of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The HUD reports were extremely influential in the development of the personal rapid transit (PRT) concept, small pod-like vehicles that automatically travel from point-to-point in extended networks. Their publication in early 1968 sparked off PRT development projects at dozens of companies around the world. In spite of intense interest in the early 1970s, political winds shifted and today there is only one HUD-inspired PRT system in commercial operation, the Morgantown PRT in West Virginia.
Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) is an American federal government program administered by the United States Department of Transportation. Originally known as Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER), it began as supplementary discretionary grant program included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Initial legislation provided $1.5 billion for a National Surface Transportation System through September 30, 2011, "to be awarded on a competitive basis for capital investments in surface transportation projects". The program has been extended several times, and was renamed as Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) in 2018 before taking its current name in 2021.
Pocatello Regional Transit (PRT) is the primary provider of mass transportation in Southeast Idaho and is a department within the City of Pocatello (Public Transit Department). Transit services being provided by PRT in Idaho Transportation District #5 have been greatly assisted by County and Municipal organizations, Idaho Transportation Department (ITD), and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Residents & visitors within the service area are all eligible to ride and the welcome is extended to come & "TAKE YOUR SEAT" on the bus.
Assembly station is a rapid transit station in Somerville, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA's Orange Line. It is an infill station, located on a section of the Orange Line that has been active since 1975. The station, which opened on September 2, 2014, was the first new rail station on the MBTA subway system since 1987. Assembly station is meant to provide convenient access to Assembly Square - a major retail and residential development located on the site of a former Ford assembly plant - and the adjacent Assembly Square Marketplace.
The National Rural Transit Assistance Program (National RTAP) is a program of the Federal Transit Administration administered by the Neponset Valley Transportation Management Association and serves as the national arm for the Rural Transit Assistance Program. The mission of National RTAP is to improve mobility in all rural, small urban, and tribal communities across the country through technical assistance and training for transit providers. Since its inception in 1987 National RTAP has developed and distributed training materials, provided technical assistance, generated reports, published best practices, conducted research and offered Peer Assistance with the goal of improved mobility for the millions of Americans living in communities with populations under 50,000.
Section 165 of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 is a section of the larger STAA that deals with purchases related to rail or road transportation. Unlike the similarly titled Buy American Act (1933), the Buy America Act applies only to purchases related to rail or road transportation, such as the construction of highways, railways, or rapid transit systems. The 1982 provisions also apply to purchases made by third-party agencies, using funds granted by agencies within the United States Department of Transportation.
CFR Title 49, Parts 600 thru 699 - Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is one of twelve chapters comprising the United States Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 49, consisting of a unified body of regulations applying to specific functions and activities under the control of the FTA. This chapter itself consists of 20 parts covering FTA organization, functions and procedures for its offices and programs.
The East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project is a transit project constructing of a light rail line on the east side of Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, running on a north/south route along Van Nuys Boulevard and San Fernando Road.
The Inglewood Transit Connector Project is a proposed 1.6-mile (2.6 km) fully elevated, automated people mover system in Inglewood, California, that will connect the Downtown Inglewood station on the K Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system to the major sports and entertainment venues in the city: Kia Forum, SoFi Stadium, Hollywood Park Casino, and the under-construction Intuit Dome. The project was planned to break ground in 2024 and begin operations in late 2027, ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics that will use some of the venues. However, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently reported that the transit connector will not open for revenue service until early 2030.
