List of North American light rail systems

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In North America, the term light rail generally refers to urban rail systems that do not require full grade separation and can range from street-running to heavily grade separated networks. There is no universal definition of "light rail transit systems", so some systems (such as Toronto's) are technically streetcars rather than "true" light rail.

Daily ridership figures for American and Canadian light rail systems are defined as "average weekday unlinked passenger trips" (where transfers between lines are counted as two separate passenger "boardings" or "trips"), unless otherwise indicated. For light rail systems in the United States and Canada, these figures come from the American Public Transit Association (APTA)'s quarterly statistics. For Mexico, the figures are obtained from Banco de Información Económica's Instituto Nacional de Estadísitica y Geografía (INEGI), and the daily figures represent daily passenger trips averaged from the monthly and quarterly ridership figures. "Daily boardings per mile" figures have been rounded to the nearest 5 or 10.

Systems

More information System, Country ...
System Country City/Area
served		 Annual
ridership
(2025)[1][2][3]		 Avg. daily
weekday
boardings
(weekdays, Q1 2026)[2][4]		 System
length		 Avg. daily boardings per mile
(Q4 2024)		 Year
opened		 Stations Lines Year
last
expanded
Sistema de Tren Eléctrico Urbano MEX Guadalajara 168,603,000 449,362[note 1] 47.0 km (29.2 mi)[5][6] 15,432 1989[5] 48[6] 3[6] 2020[7]
CTrain CAN Calgary 94,097,200 152,700 59.9 km (37.2 mi)[8] 7,212 1981[9] 45[8] 2[10] 2014[11]
Toronto streetcar system CAN Toronto 79,295,000 324,300 82 km (51 mi)[12] 4,622 1861[13] 708[12] 11[12] 2016[citation needed]
Metro Rail light rail:[note 2]
A, C, E, & K lines		 USA Los Angeles 47,773,700 150,400 169.3 km (105.2 mi)[14] 1,672 1990[14] 98[14] 4[14] 2025[14]
San Diego Trolley
(incl. Silver Line[15][note 3])		 USA San Diego 41,069,900 119,300 105 km (65 mi)[16] 1,958 1981[16] 62[16] 4[15][16] 2021[17][16]
MBTA light rail:[note 2]
Green Line &
Mattapan Line[note 3]		 USA Boston 42,065,000 124,900 42 km (26 mi)[18] 3,903 1897;[19]
1929[citation needed]		 74[18] 2[18] 2022[20]
Link light rail:
1 Line, 2 Line, and T Line		 USA Seattle and Tacoma 37,763,800 117,200 75.88 km (47.15 mi) 2,686 2003[21] 45[22] 3[23] 2026[24]
Xochimilco Light Rail[note 2] MEX Mexico City 29,545,000 96,835[note 1] 13.04 km (8.10 mi)[25] 12,010 1986[26] 18[25] 1[25] 2008[citation needed]
Muni Metro[note 2]
(incl. F Market[27][28][note 3])		 USA San Francisco 34,229,500 113,600 57.5 km (35.7 mi)[29] 2,661 1980[29] 152[28][29] 8[27][29] 2023[30]
Edmonton LRT CAN Edmonton 31,611,400 105,100 37.3 km (23.2 mi)[31] 4,720 1978[31] 29[31] 3[31] 2024[31]
MAX Light Rail USA Portland,
Oregon		 22,061,900 63,400 97 km (60 mi)[citation needed] 1,232 1986[32] 94[33] 5[34] 2015[citation needed]
DART rail USA Dallas 21,611,600 60,900 192 km (119 mi)[35] 771 1996[36] 73[35] 5[37] 2025[36]
NJ Transit Light Rail USA Newark,
New Jersey, as well as Hudson, Mercer, Burlington, and Camden Counties.		 22,789,400 65,312[note 1] 174.0 km (108.1 mi)[38] 578 1935[39] 86[38] 3[38] 2011[40]
O-Train CAN Ottawa 26,523,100 100,500 35.6 km (22.1 mi)[41] 9,820 2019 25[41] 3[41] 2025[42]
METRO Light Rail USA Minneapolis 12,848,200 34,800 35.1 km (21.8 mi)[43][44] 2,045 2004[43] 37[43][44] 2[43][44] 2014[44]
SEPTA Metro light rail:[45][note 2]
Subway–Surface Trolleys (T), Media–Sharon Hill Line (D),
& Route 15 Trolley (G)[note 3]		 USA Philadelphia 15,626,500 55,800 110.1 km (68.4 mi)[46][47] 816 1858[48] >100[46] 8[46][47] 2005[citation needed]
TRAX (light rail) USA Salt Lake City 13,279,100 40,300 72.1 km (44.8 mi)[49] 1,002 1999[50] 50[51] 3[51] 2013[citation needed]
METRORail USA Houston 12,651,100 35,600 36.9 km (22.9 mi)[52] 1,843 2004[52] 37[53] 3[52] 2015[52]
RTD Light Rail USA Denver 10,568,000 38,400 94.1 km (58.5 mi)[54] 646 1994[55] 46[54] 6[54] 2017[55]
Valley Metro Rail USA Phoenix 11,100,300 36,400 62 km (38.5 mi)[56] 823 2008[57] 50[56] 2[citation needed] 2025[58]
St. Louis MetroLink USA St. Louis 7,665,000 21,800 74.0 km (46.0 mi)[59] 413 1993[60] 37[59] 2[61] 2006[62]
Lynx Rapid Transit Services USA Charlotte,
North Carolina		 6,403,100 18,700 30.4 km (18.9 mi)[63] 1,143 2007[64] 15[65] 1[65] 2018[citation needed]
SacRT light rail USA Sacramento,
California		 7,410,000 22,100 69.0 km (42.9 mi)[66] 455 1987[66] 53[66] 3[66] 2015[66]
Streetcars in
New Orleans[note 3]		 USA New Orleans 3,136,500 10,400 35.9 km (22.3 mi)[67][68] 412 1835[citation needed] streetcar-like surface stops[citation needed] 4[67] 2013[67]
VTA light rail USA San Jose,
California		 4,469,300 14,500 67.9 km (42.2 mi)[69] 374 1987[69] 62[69] 3[69] 2005[69]
Baltimore Light RailLink[note 2] USA Baltimore 5,015,100 13,900 53.1 km (33.0 mi)[70] 460 1992[citation needed] 33[70] 3[70] 1997[citation needed]
Ion rapid transit CAN Kitchener and Waterloo 5,654,810[71] 13,000 19.3 km (12.0 mi)[72][circular reference] 1,083 2019 19[72] 1[72] n/a
Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit USA Morgantown - 12,000[73] 5.0 km (3.1 mi) 1975 5 1 1979
The T:
Pittsburgh Light Rail		 USA Pittsburgh 3,104,400 9,964[note 1]

42.2 km (26.2 mi)[74]

 344 1984[citation needed] 53[74] 3[74] 2012[74]
San Francisco
cable car system[note 4][note 3]		 USA San Francisco 5,719,900 14,900 8.4 km (5.2 mi)[citation needed] 2,685 1878[75] streetcar-like surface stops[citation needed] 3[28][76] 1952[citation needed]
Portland Streetcar[note 5] USA Portland 2,373,341[77] 8,339 11.83 km (7.35 mi)[78] 1,135 2001[78] 76[78] 2[78] 2012[78]
Buffalo Metro Rail USA Buffalo,
New York		 2,433,300 6,600 10.3 km (6.4 mi)[citation needed] 254 1985[citation needed] 14[79] 1[79] n/a
KC Streetcar[note 6] USA Kansas City, Missouri 1,856,129[80] 4,393 9.2 km (5.7 mi)[81] 1,996 2016[82] 31[81] 1[83] 2025[81]
SPRINTER USA Oceanside,
California		 1,362,600 5,600 35 km (22 mi)[84] 341 2008[84] 15[84] 1[84] n/a
Seattle Streetcar USA Seattle 1,326,500 4,200 6.1 km (3.8 mi)[citation needed] 1,105 2007[85] 17[86] 2[86] 2016[87]
RTA Rapid Transit:[note 2]
Blue, Green, and Waterfront Lines		 USA Cleveland 661,500 2,500 24.6 km (15.3 mi)[88] 163 1913[89] 34[88] 2[88] 1996[89]
Tide Light Rail USA Norfolk,
Virginia		 771,500 2,500 11.9 km (7.4 mi)[90] 338 2011[91] 11[90] 1[90] n/a
TECO Line Streetcars[note 3] USA Tampa,
Florida		 1,428,700 3,489 4.3 km (2.7 mi)[92] 1,292 2002[citation needed] 11[93] 1[93] 2010[citation needed]
Sun Link USA Tucson,
Arizona		 1,724,900 5,800 6.3 km (3.9 mi)[94] 1,487 2014[citation needed] 22[94] 1[94] n/a
The Hop USA Milwaukee,
Wisconsin		 760,321[95] 1,426[note 1] 3.4 km (2.1 mi)[96] 2018[96] 18 1 2018
El Paso Streetcar USA El Paso,
Texas		 130,600 600 7.7 km (4.8 mi)[97] 2018[98] 27 2 2018
Atlanta Streetcar USA Atlanta,
Georgia		 184,500 600 4.3 km (2.7 mi)[citation needed] 111 2014[citation needed] 12[citation needed] 1[citation needed] n/a
MATA Trolleys[note 3] USA Memphis,
Tennessee		 365,400 800 10.1 km (6.3 mi)[citation needed] 0[note 7] 1993[99] 25[100] 3[100] 2004[99]
Oklahoma City Streetcar USA Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 288,500[101] - 2018[102] 22 2 -
Astoria Riverfront Trolley USA Astoria, Oregon 35,000 - 5 km (3 mi) 1999 10 1 1999
Close

Excluded systems

See also: List of United States light rail systems by ridership § Systems excluded from ridership table

The following systems have been excluded from the ridership table above (generally because the system's ridership statistics are not tracked by APTA):

See also

Notes

  1. [1]
    This is the Average Daily Ridership figure, not an "Average Weekday Ridership" figure – it is averaged from the 2025Q2 Total Ridership figure for this system.
  2. [2]
    This system also has a heavy rail rapid transit/metro portion (see List of metro systems); the ridership figures and statistics here represent the light rail portion of the system only.
  3. [3]
    This line or system is operated using heritage streetcars.
  4. [4]
    It is debatable whether this system truly qualifies as "light rail" (or as a true "transit" system either), but it is included in the table anyway for comparison purposes (and due to its ridership statistics being tracked by APTA).
  5. [5]
    This system is owned by the City of Portland, which is not a member of APTA, and its ridership figures are not included in the APTA statistics for Portland.
  6. [6]
    This system is owned the by City of Kansas City, which is not a member of APTA, and its ridership figures are not included in the APTA statistics for Kansas City.
  7. [7]
    The MATA Trolley system completely suspended operations for a significant portion of 2014 (including all of Q4 2014) due to maintenance issues.

References

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