Where would we be without public transport? With more and more of us consciously trying to reduce our reliance on car travel, to help our own health and that of the planet, trains, buses and trams are the unsung heroes that could literally save the world.
Sure, a crowded bus on the morning commute isn’t the most pleasant, but when it comes to exploring the world’s greatest cities, it’s the best way to discover a new place through the eyes of a local. And a few of the world’s best public transport networks even double up as cultural treasure hunts, making the mundane spectacular with sublime art and design.
To identify the cities with the world’s greatest public transport, we surveyed more than 20,000 city-dwellers around the world from more than 50 cities, back in 2023, by simply asking: is it easy to get around your city by public transport?
Many iconic networks didn’t quite make the cut. There was no room for Istanbul’s continent-crossing ferries, the fairytale trams of Lisbon, Melbourne and Manchester, or Bangkok’s elevated Skytrain. But in the cities that were included, at least four out of five locals had good things to say about each of them. And they spanned the whole globe, from Montreal to Mumbai and Stockholm to Shanghai – and even the USA. So, without further ado, these are the best cities in the world for public transport, according to locals.
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