This is a list of North American rapid transit systems by ridership. These heavy rail or rapid transit systems are also known as metro or subway systems. This list of systems in North America does not include light rail, even when they are integrated with heavy rail. Daily and annual ridership figures are based on "average weekday unlinked passenger trips" (where transfers between lines are counted as two separate passenger "boardings" or "trips"), unless otherwise indicated. For metro systems in the United States (including Puerto Rico) and Canada, the annual ridership figures for 2023 and average weekday ridership figures for the First Quarter (Q1) of 2024 come from the American Public Transportation Association's (APTA) ridership reports statistics, [1] unless otherwise noted. Ridership figures for Mexico come from the National Institute of Geography and Statistics (INEGI), specifically the Economy and Productive Sectors - Passenger Transit information. [2] Ridership figures for the Dominican Republic come from the Directorate of Operations Santo Domingo Metro report for the year 2013. [3]
System | Country | City/area served | Annual ridership (2023) [1] [4] | Avg. daily weekday boardings (Q1 2024) [1] [4] | System length | Avg. daily boardings per mile (Q3 2023) | Year opened | Stations | Lines | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | New York City Subway | United States | New York City | 2,027,286,000 | 5,955,000 | 248 miles (399 km) [5] | 25,251 | 1904 [note 1] | 472 [6] | 24 [6] |
2 | Mexico City Metro | Mexico | Mexico City | 1,115,300,000 [4] | 2,397,892 [7] | 140.75 miles (226.5 km) [8] | 17,037 | 1969 | 195 [9] | 12 [9] |
3 | Montreal Metro | Canada | Montreal | 303,969,500 | 1,009,600 | 43 miles (69 km) [10] | 21,816 | 1966 | 68 | 4 |
4 | Toronto subway | Canada | Toronto | 298,619,000 | 1,035,300 | 47.8 miles (76.9 km) [11] | 20,305 | 1954 [11] | 70 | 3 |
5 | SkyTrain | Canada | Vancouver | 141,339,300 | 455,700 | 49.5 miles (79.6 km) | 9,030 | 1985 | 53 [12] | 3 [12] |
6 | Washington Metro | United States | Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area | 136,303,200 | 450,600 | 129 miles (208 km) [13] | 3,683 | 1976 [13] | 98 [13] | 6 |
7 | Chicago 'L' | United States | Chicago | 117,447,000 | 416,200 | 102.8 miles (165.4 km) [14] | 3,780 | 1892 [14] | 145 [14] | 8 [14] |
8 | Metrorrey | Mexico | Monterrey | 138,709,000 [4] | 380,024 [note 2] | 25 miles (40 km) [15] | 25,605 | 1991 [16] | 40 [15] | 3 [15] |
9 | MBTA subway [note 3] (Blue, Orange, and Red Lines) | United States | Boston | 85,397,200 | 267,700 | 39.5 miles (63.6 km) [17] | 7,187 | 1901 | 53 [17] | 4 [17] |
10 | BART | United States | San Francisco Bay Area | 48,119,400 | 169,800 | 131.4 miles (211.5 km) [18] | 1,280 | 1972 [18] | 48 [18] | 6 [19] |
11 | SEPTA Metro [20] [21] [note 3] (L, B, and M) | United States | Philadelphia | 45,559,700 | 207,600 | 36.7 miles (59.1 km) [20] [22] | 4,733 | 1907 | 75 [21] | 3 [21] |
12 | PATH | United States | Jersey City, Newark, NJ | 55,109,100 | 205,600 | 13.8 miles (22.2 km) [23] | 13,449 | 1908 | 13 [24] | 5 [24] |
13 | MARTA rail | United States | Atlanta | 31,110,300 | 90,500 | 48 miles (77 km) [25] | 1,952 | 1979 | 38 [25] | 4 |
14 | Panama Metro | Panama | Panama City | 91,932,890 [26] | 180,000 [27] [ needs update ] | 22.9 miles (36.9 km) [28] | 21,176 | 2014 | 31 [29] | 2 [30] |
15 | Santo Domingo Metro | Dominican Republic | Santo Domingo | 61,270,054 [3] [ needs update ] | 177,844 [3] [note 4] [ needs update ] | 17.0 miles (27.4 km) [31] [32] | 10,461 | 2009 | 30 [31] [32] | 2 [31] [32] |
16 | Metro Rail [note 3] (B and D Lines) | United States | Los Angeles | 25,899,200 | 67,300 | 17.4 miles (28.0 km) [33] | 3,667 | 1993 [33] | 16 [33] | 2 [33] |
17 | Miami Metrorail | United States | Miami | 13,439,300 | 49,300 | 24.9 miles (40.1 km) [34] | 2,111 | 1984 | 23 [34] | 2 |
18 | PATCO Speedline | United States | Philadelphia | 5,452,000 | 18,500 | 14.2 miles (22.9 km) [35] | 1,268 | 1936 [35] | 13 [35] | 1 [35] |
19 | Staten Island Railway | United States | New York City | 6,151,400 | 16,600 | 14.0 miles (22.5 km) [5] | 1,279 | 1860 | 22 [5] | 1 [5] |
20 | Baltimore Metro SubwayLink [note 3] | United States | Baltimore | 1,988,300 | 16,300 | 15.5 miles (24.9 km) [36] | 884 | 1983 | 14 [36] | 1 [36] |
21 | RTA Rapid Transit [note 3] (Red Line) | United States | Cleveland | 3,469,100 | 9,200 | 19 miles (31 km) [37] | 553 | 1955 | 18 [37] | 1 [37] |
22 | Tren Urbano | Puerto Rico (United States) | San Juan | 2,738,100 | 17,900 | 10.7 miles (17.2 km) | 1,318 | 2004 | 16 | 1 |