The following is a list of all light rail systems in the United States. Also included are some of the urban streetcar/trolley systems that provide regular public transit service (operating year-round and at least five days per week), ones with data available from the American Public Transportation Association's (APTA) Ridership Reports. This list does not include statistics for metro/rapid transit systems (see: the List of United States rapid transit systems for those). 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"). References with supplementary (non-APTA) ridership figures are included in the System column.
System | City/area served | Annual ridership 2024 [1] | Avg. ridership weekdays, Q2 2025 [2] | System length | Avg. boardings per mile weekdays, Q2 2025 | Opened | Stations | Lines | Last expanded | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Metro Rail light rail: [a] A, C, E, & K lines | Los Angeles | 46,178,300 | 143,200 | 94.5 mi (152.1 km) [3] | 1,515 | 1990 [3] | 88 [3] | 4 [3] | 2025 [3] |
2 | San Diego Trolley [b] (incl. Silver Line) [4] [c] | San Diego | 41,069,900 | 129,300 | 65 mi (105 km) [5] | 1,989 | 1981 [5] | 62 [5] | 5 [4] [5] | 2021 [5] |
3 | MBTA light rail: [a] Green Line & Mattapan Line [c] | Boston | 30,631,700 | 102,500 | 26 mi (42 km) [6] | 3,942 | 1897 [7] | 74 [6] | 5 [6] | 2022 |
4 | Link [b] (incl. T Line) | Seattle | 30,438,000 | 115,900 | 48.05 mi (77.33 km) [8] | 2,570 | 2009 | 45 [8] | 3 [8] | 2025 [9] |
5 | Muni Metro [a] [10] (incl. E & F) [11] [12] [c] | San Francisco | 29,361,800 | 105,400 | 35.7 mi (57.5 km) [13] | 2,952 | 1912 [14] | 152 [12] [13] | 9 [11] [13] | 2022 [15] |
6 | MAX Light Rail [b] | Portland | 24,383,900 | 67,300 | 60 mi (97 km) | 1,122 | 1986 | 94 | 5 | 2015 |
7 | DART [b] | Dallas | 22,237,700 | 66,300 | 93 mi (150 km) [16] | 713 | 1996 [17] | 64 [16] | 4 [18] | 2016 [17] |
8 | NJ Transit: [a] HBLR, Newark Light Rail, River LINE [19] | Jersey City, Newark, Camden-Trenton | 22,215,800 | 60,900 [d] | 59.9 mi (96.4 km) [19] | 1,016 | 1935 | 24 [20] | 3 [20] | 2011 |
9 | METRO Light Rail [b] | Minneapolis-St. Paul | 15,489,100 | 39,100 | 21.8 mi (35.1 km) [21] [22] | 1,794 | 2004 [21] | 37 [21] [22] | 2 [21] [22] | 2014 [22] |
10 | SEPTA Metro: [23] [a] T, G, [c] & D | Philadelphia | 15,281,900 | 55,800 | 68.4 mi (110.1 km) [24] [25] | 816 | 1906 | >100 [24] | 3 [24] [25] | 2005 |
11 | TRAX (UTA) and S Line [b] | Salt Lake City | 13,965,200 | 34,500 | 46.8 mi (75.3 km) [26] [27] | 737 | 1999 [28] | 57 [29] | 4 [29] | 2013 |
12 | METRORail | Houston | 13,456,400 | 42,000 | 23.8 mi (38.3 km) [30] [31] | 1,765 | 2004 [31] | 44 [30] | 3 [30] | 2017 [30] |
13 | Denver RTD: [b] D, E, H, R, L, & W Lines | Denver | 11,161,800 | 44,600 | 58.5 mi (94.1 km) [32] | 762 | 1994 [33] | 62 [32] | 8 | 2019 [34] |
14 | Valley Metro Rail & Valley Metro Streetcar [35] | Phoenix | 11,100,300 | 30,900 | 41.5 mi (66.8 km) [36] | 1,037 | 2008 [37] | 62 [38] | 3 [37] | 2025 [36] |
15 | MetroLink | St. Louis | 7,135,000 | 21,800 | 46 mi (74 km) [39] | 474 | 1993 [40] | 37 [39] | 2 [41] | 2006 [42] |
16 | SacRT light rail | Sacramento | 6,580,000 | 22,100 | 42.9 mi (69.0 km) [43] | 515 | 1987 [43] | 53 [43] | 3 [43] | 2015 [43] |
17 | CATS: Blue and Gold lines | Charlotte | 6,528,600 | 21,000 | 20.8 mi (33.5 km) [44] [45] | 1,010 | 2007 [46] | 43 [44] [45] | 2 [44] | 2021 [47] |
18 | Baltimore Light RailLink [a] | Baltimore | 5,015,100 | 14,500 | 33 mi (53 km) [48] | 439 | 1992 | 33 [48] | 3 [48] | 1997 |
19 | VTA light rail [b] | San Jose | 4,914,100 | 12,700 | 42.2 mi (67.9 km) [49] | 301 | 1987 [49] | 62 [49] | 3 [49] | 2005 [49] |
20 | RTA Streetcars in New Orleans [c] | New Orleans | 3,535,600 | 8,800 | 26.9 mi (43.3 km) [50] | 327 | 1835 | n/a [e] | 5 [50] | 2018 [50] [51] |
21 | Pittsburgh Light Rail | Pittsburgh | 3,236,100 | 8,900 [d] | 26.2 mi (42.2 km) [52] | 338 | 1984 [f] | 53 [52] | 3 [52] | 2012 [52] |
22 | Portland Streetcar [g] | Portland | 2,900,000 [53] | 8,089 [53] | 9.35 mi (15.05 km) [54] | 834 | 2001 [54] | 76 [54] | 3 [54] | 2015 [55] |
23 | Buffalo Metro Rail | Buffalo | 2,228,400 | 8,900 | 6.4 mi (10.3 km) | 1,391 | 1984 | 14 [56] | 1 [56] | 1986 |
24 | SPRINTER [b] [57] | Oceanside | 1,893,900 | 5,800 | 22 mi (35 km) [58] | 264 | 2008 [58] | 15 [58] | 1 [58] | — |
25 | KC Streetcar | Kansas City | 1,856,129 [59] | 4,393 [59] | 2.2 mi (3.5 km) | 2,281 | 2016 | 16 [60] | 1 | 2016 |
26 | Sun Link | Tucson | 1,676,500 | 4,400 | 3.9 mi (6.3 km) [61] | 1,128 | 2014 | 22 [61] | 1 [61] | — |
27 | Seattle Streetcar [b] | Seattle | 1,384,500 | 5,000 | 3.8 mi (6.1 km) | 1,316 | 2007 | 21 | 2 | 2016 |
28 | TECO Line Streetcar [c] | Tampa | 1,330,932 [62] | 3,000 [d] | 2.7 mi (4.3 km) | 1,173 | 2002 | 11 | 1 | 2010 |
29 | Connector [63] | Cincinnati | 1,198,859 [64] | 3,087 [d] [64] | 3.6 mi (5.8 km) [65] | 1,036 | 2016 [66] | 18 [65] | 1 | — |
30 | Q-Line | Detroit | 1,003,975 [67] | 3,185 [67] | 3.3 mi (5.3 km) | 745 | 2017 | 20 | 1 | — |
31 | Tide Light Rail | Norfolk | 853,300 | 3,700 | 7.4 mi (11.9 km) [68] | 500 | 2011 [69] | 11 [68] | 1 [68] | — |
32 | DC Streetcar | Washington, D.C. | 835,900 | 2,600 | 2.4 mi (3.9 km) | 1,083 | 2016 | 8 | 1 | — |
33 | RTA Rapid Transit: [h] Blue, Green, and Waterfront lines | Cleveland | 808,100 | 2,600 | 15.3 mi (24.6 km) [70] | 170 | 1913 [71] | 34 [70] | 2 [70] | 1996 [71] |
34 | The Hop | Milwaukee | 532,460 | 1,311 | 2.1 mi (3.4 km) | 624 | 2018 | 21 [72] | 2 [72] | 2023 |
35 | Dallas Streetcar | Dallas | 523,046 [73] | 1,923 [d] | 2.45 mi (3.94 km) | 784 | 2015 | 6 | 1 | 2016 |
36 | Atlanta Streetcar | Atlanta | 342,700 | 900 | 2.7 mi (4.3 km) | 333 | 2014 | 12 | 1 | — |
37 | El Paso Streetcar [c] | El Paso | 275,500 | 1,200 | 4.8 mi (7.7 km) | 250 | 2018 | 27 [74] | 2 [74] | — |
38 | MATA Trolley [c] | Memphis | 233,400 | 0 [i] | 2 mi (3.2 km) | 400 | 1993 | 11 | 1 | 2004 |
The following light rail systems have been excluded from the ridership table above:
System | Largest city served | Opened | Route length | Reason(s) for exclusion from Ridership table |
---|---|---|---|---|
San Francisco cable car system | San Francisco, CA | 1873 | 5.1 mi (8.2 km) | APTA does not provide ridership figures for this system. |
Lowell National Historical Park Trolley System | Lowell, MA | 1984 [75] | 1.2 mi (1.9 km) [76] | Primarily a tourist system (does not operate daily, year-round). APTA does not provide ridership figures. |
Galveston Island Trolley | Galveston, TX | 1988 [77] | 6.8 mi (10.9 km) [77] | Primarily a tourist system. APTA does not provide ridership figures. |
Kenosha Streetcars | Kenosha, WI | 2000 [78] | 2.0 mi (3.2 km) [78] | Primarily a tourist system. APTA does not provide ridership figures. |
Metro Streetcar | Little Rock, AR | 2004 [79] | 3.4 mi (5.5 km) [79] | Primarily a tourist system. APTA does not provide ridership figures. |