What is the Best Light Rail System in the United States?

Seattle has the most ambitious expansion plans, SF can barely finish two additional stations. I wish Seattle all the best if they can triple ridership in the next ten years it will be a huge success story.

Encouraging to see the push for light rail in so many cities in the last 40-years.

It’s interesting how in some cities the light rail is the backbone of the transportation system, like in Dallas or Portland, but in other places like Jersey City or Newark it’s only a small portion of the transportation system. The primary lines are heavy rail commuter lines or full rail subway stations with light rail just servings secondary routes.

The United States have some very good light rail systems, and just imagine good they would be if the light rail systems were kept running and improved from the 1960s/

The San Diego Trolley and Sprinter are excellent light rail. You would be surprised how many parts of the city you can get to with that. It's an underrated system IMO.

My vote goes to Portland. Extensive system that continues to add lines

Have yall been to LA? There light rail system is the best in the country. Los Angeles metro covers 81 miles more than any other city in the u.s. therefore they have the most ridership and the most lines and they also have the cheapest transportation

Something funny is that the ones in Austin, Oceanside and Trenton use what is considered here in Europe as heavy regional rail vehicles for a "light rail"

Chemnitz in Germany has a light rail system that goes through the city center and then switches from electric motor to diesel motor and goes to remote villages on train tracks. They call it "chemnitzer Modell" if you are interested.

Denver has expanded so much in the last 6 years with two new light rail lines and an extension. RTD now also has commuter rail.

Of the ones hat I had the chance to ride. I liked Minneapolis, Phoenix and San Diego's light rail.

Fun fact about the Hudson Bergen Light Rail and Newark Light Rail: even though both systems use the same Kinki-Sharyo rolling stock, the trains on both lines are not interchangeable, due to the two systems having slightly different rail profiles.

How about the most stressed operators? As a former VTA operator--I would have to say VTA operators are do to the number of supervisor/operator ratio. I would also include lack of break time and places to stop and take a 10-7B--a bathroom brake. Add to that when I was hired on the total system operated the same way. When they opened the Winchester Line that all changed because they wanted to save money. As for operating an LRV --I would have to say it was still the best job I ever had. If it had not been for a mold problem that many coastal cities have--I would still be working there today. I always enjoyed having children come into the cab at the end of the line. Because I don't have any of my own I always enjoyed how their eyes lit up when they came in. For the very young ones I would open a sandbox and let them feel the sand. The parents also enjoyed seeing the reactions of their children. I figured it was good PR for VTA. Thank you VTA for a giving me a chance to do what a lot of little boys dream of doing but never get the chance.

I live in LA and the Metro Rail system is pretty convenient, lot of lines that connect Downtown throughout the rest of the city. My favorite route is the Expo Line!

As cars are becoming more expensive to own and maintain, I think you're going to see more of these light rail/suburban/intra-urban lines returning to service...

Portland ties bus to Street cars to light rail to train. Has the highest ridership of all them. Than Seattle has a great system. Dallas has low ridership for the longest light rail.

I will say San Francisco because of Munis close proximity to the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) system and surface bus routes.

I like the fact Minneapolis runs for 24 hrs.

Since I grew up in Philadelphia and now live just outside of the city, my vote is for the Philadelphia/suburban street rail system known as the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority or SEPTA. There are 5 subway-surface trolley routes and 1 all surface car route. The subway-surface routes all use Japanese Kawasaki cars (K cars, for short) and the all surface route uses rebuilt PCC cars. The Kawasaki cars run so smooth it is almost like floating on air when riding in one. I dare say that the rebuilt PCCs now run almost as smooth. Anyone visiting the city should be treated to a ride on one. What I like about our cars is that they are traditional trolleys in that they use poles on the roof to collect the electricity for power instead of the pantographs which seem to be the common method of power collecting on newer cars. I also like the fact that they are single cars with visible wheels instead of articulated (accordion) ones and with hidden wheels. I have been reading lately that there are plans to purchase new cars for the city and develop dedicated rights-of-way to speed up boarding and travel times. These are great goals but my personal preference is for cars that look like traditional trolley cars but larger, since the goal is to increase passenger capacity. Of course, during rush hours cars could be coupled together. I did not mention that the 2 suburban trolley routes, which are shown above as being in Drexel Hill, only run briefly in the street and mostly on private right-of-way. They also have pantographs which I suppose was done so that the operators would not have to lower and raise poles at the end of the lines, which do not have turnaround loops. The old cars had poles on each end. If anyone who is studying (light) rail transit comes to Philadelphia, I'm sure you will love our system for its efficiency and functionality. Other cities returning to streetcars should study and copy ours. So you see why I think our system is the best in the US. From what I've seen on You Tube of Toronto's rail system, I would vote them no. 1 for Canada and no. 2 for North America.

My vote goes to Valley Metro light rail which has been in service since 2008 and has recently celebrated it's 12th year of service.