Hong Kong has been given the title of “world’s top city for
public transit”, according to a new study by consulting firm Oliver Wyman and
the University of California, Berkeley. The transport network of Hong Kong is
admired not only for being reasonable, but also because it has high station
density and a quite maintained railway infrastructure. The researchers say that
there is still some room for improvement and suggest the use of a smartphone
app with an aim that it will help travelers to better navigate the city.
As the infographic pictures that most of the worlds’ popular public transportation networks are in Europe. Zurich takes the second spot, followed by Stockholm (3rd), Helsinki (5th), Oslo (6th), Paris (8th), Berlin (9th) and London (10th). At the opposite end and on the lowest of rankings lie Riyadh (57th), Nairobi (59th) and Jeddah (60th).
There is a major impact of the strength of a city’s public
transport system on the lifestyle of its residents. The report provides details
by saying: “an efficiently run system can not only encourage workers and
tourists to travel through cities but can provide more equal opportunity access
to additional mobility modes, jobs, shopping centers, and more.”
The pandemic has brought many changes to how things used to
be previously. Today, there are more people who work from home and do not
commute quite frequently. The report writers point out that if the transit
system is not able to gain some of those riders back then there would be great
risks. The risks they have discussed are: risk of loss of jobs of people who
operate these transports, which could lead to more private travel, thus
increased road congestion and road fatalities, as well as increase in noise,
light and air pollution.
The study evaluated public transportation systems in 60 major
cities around the world. The ranks were decided on the basis of factors such as
the infrastructure, social impact, market attractiveness, system efficiency and
network innovation. The Public Transit sub-index contributes to the study’s
overall Urban Mobility Readiness Index 2022. According to the wider study, a
total of nine U.S. cities have made it onto the Urban Mobility Readiness list
of 60. These include San Francisco (1st), New York (11th), Chicago (12th),
Boston (13th) Washington D.C. (14th), Los Angeles (17th), Atlanta (23rd),
Houston (27th), and Dallas (28th).
