austin's transportation future
rail transit rail in other cities
By not having an urban light rail system, Austin is a national outlier among cities its size.

Houston's light rail system connects downtown and the city's major hospitals and arts institutions. It has the nation's second highest ridership per track mile.
These cities already have urban light rail or streetcar rail systems:
- Baltimore
- Boston
- Buffalo
- Charlotte
- Cleveland
- Dallas
- Denver
- Houston
- Jersey City
- Kenosha
- Little Rock
- Los Angeles
- Memphis
- Minneapolis
- Newark
- Philadelphia
- Pittsburgh
- Phoenix
- Portland
- Sacramento
- St. Louis
- Salt Lake City
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- San Jose
- Seattle
- Tacoma
- Tampa
- Trenton


The average American household spends 32 cents of each after-tax dollar on housing, followed by 19 cents on transportation. In areas with rail transit, however, residents around rail stops spend just 9% of their household budget on transportation.