Notes and assumptions

● Cities with at least one subway or LRT line are included in this study. Large bus-only
systems like ​Winnipeg​ or L ​ as Vegas​ are thus excluded. Excluded are cities with a
commuter rail that was not integrated into the rest of their transit system, like ​Austin​. And
while some small cities ​now use Uber for transit​, this study ignored ridesharing.
● Washington DC, Vancouver and Seattle use zones for their fares. For the purposes of
this study the zones used represent transit inside city boundaries.
● “Smart” fare is most often the fare deducted from ​smartcard media​, but in some cities it
may be tokens or ​tickets​, whichever is least expensive. The point is that this is the least
expensive possible single trip fare for frequent riders not using a pass.
● Some cities discount transit fares at off hours. Peak fares are used for this study.
● Many smartcards, ​including Presto​, charge a fee of $1 to $6 to first purchase the card.
hat fee is ignored in the Multi/Smartcard fare since it is assumed commuters will already
have a card
● Some cities are ​now allowing payment via mobile phone app​. While very convenient,
only the costs are compared here, not the method of payment.
● Only airports with on-site rail stations are listed—no shuttle buses like the ​TTC Airport
Rocket​ or ​Valley Metro Airport Flyer​ or ​DART Love Link​ are included. It was tempting to
include the ​Silver Line bus in Boston​, which is totally free and a BRT, but then the study
would have had to include Ottawa as well, and perhaps other higher-grade bus links, so
they were excluded and just rail was studied. While YTZ lacks a rail station, the fact that
you can ​walk to it for free​ right from downtown probably makes it the greatest urban
airport of them all.
● We used the least expensive fare for the airport train, the one that city residents and not
tourists might pay. For example, in Toronto the Presto fare was used. Where there was
a choice between commuter rail and subway, as with ​AirTrain JFK​, the cheaper fare was
used. This was a very arbitrary decision but in general the entire study focuses on
frequent transit users.
● Excluded were train stations that run too infrequently to be of practical use to travelers,
like ​South Bend​ or ​O’Hare (Metra)​ or ​Milwaukee​.
● Air-rail links under construction were used for the study, like those in ​LA​, ​NYC​, ​DC​, and
Montreal​. Although to be fair, some of these are some years away. Estimated fares for
these cities were used, based on best guesses, such as ​matching the 747 express bus
fare​ in Montreal.
● Where different prices for bus and subway do still exist, as in ​Boston​, ​Chicago o ​ r ​St.
Louis​, the rail fare was used.