8 Cities With Some of the Worst Public Transportation in the U.S.
For millions of Americans, public transportation is the difference between getting where they need to go and being stuck behind the wheel.
But in some cities, limited routes, long wait times, and heavy car dependence have made daily travel a constant challenge. Recent Census and transit data reveal which major U.S. cities are struggling the most to provide reliable alternatives to driving.
From sprawling metro areas with weak coverage to systems fighting years of underinvestment, these cities show why building better transportation remains one of America’s biggest urban challenges.
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is finally spending serious money on transportation, but current commuting figures show how far the city must travel. About 66 percent of workers in the central Nashville and Davidson County area drove alone in 2024, while approximately 2.3 percent used public transportation.
Voters approved the multibillion-dollar Choose How You Move program, and WeGo introduced additional service improvements in January 2026. Even after those changes, official schedules show several routes operating at intervals of 20, 40, 45 or 60 minutes during parts of the week, making spontaneous travel difficult outside the most heavily served corridors.
Nashville ranks eighth because meaningful improvements are underway. For riders waiting today, however, future rapid transit corridors and better sidewalks do not replace a bus that is still too infrequent or too far away.
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio has a substantial bus network, but it remains strikingly dependent on private vehicles for a city of its size. Census estimates show 68 percent of workers drove alone in 2024, 14 percent carpooled, and only about 2 percent used public transportation.
VIA operates 75 routes across 14 member cities and unincorporated areas of Bexar County. Yet San Antonio is still waiting for its first advanced rapid transit corridor, with the Green Line now under construction and expected to open in April 2028.
The Green Line could become a major turning point, connecting areas near the airport, downtown and the city’s South Side. Until it opens, San Antonio remains a sprawling metropolitan center trying to meet modern transportation demands largely through buses traveling on streets crowded with private cars.
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis has invested in bus rapid transit, but the broader commuting numbers remain stubbornly weak. About 73 percent of workers drove alone in 2024, while only 1 percent used public transportation.
IndyGo’s 13-mile Red Line represents genuine progress, offering service every 15 to 20 minutes for much of the day. The agency has also launched the Purple Line and is working toward additional connections, but those improvements have not yet created a citywide culture in which transit becomes the obvious choice for ordinary trips.
The problem is scale. One strong corridor can transform the neighborhoods directly surrounding it, but Indianapolis stretches far beyond those stations. For many residents, reaching the rapid line can be almost as difficult as completing the rest of the journey.
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is one of the fastest-growing major cities in the country, but its transportation system has struggled to keep pace. Census data shows 75 percent of workers drove alone in 2024, one of the highest percentages on this list, while only about 1 percent used public transportation.
Trinity Metro operates buses and provides useful rail connections, including TEXRail service between downtown Fort Worth and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. That line is valuable for airport employees, travelers and residents living near its stations, but it cannot function as a complete substitute for frequent transit across the entire city.
Fort Worth’s predicament is easy to recognize. The city possesses pieces of a functional regional system, yet daily life outside selected corridors remains structured around driving, parking and enduring traffic.
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville’s greatest transportation obstacle may be its map. The consolidated city covers roughly 747 square miles and had more than one million residents in the latest Census profile, creating an enormous territory for any transit agency to serve efficiently.
About 71 percent of Jacksonville workers drove alone in 2024, while only 1 percent used public transportation. Jacksonville Transportation Authority buses cover much of the region, but long distances and dispersed development make frequent, convenient service difficult to provide everywhere.
The downtown Skyway offers an alternative in the urban core, yet its limited reach leaves most Jacksonville neighborhoods untouched. JTA is studying rehabilitation and expansion through its Ultimate Urban Circulator program, but planning and design work extending through 2026 illustrates that the promised transformation is still unfinished.
Jacksonville does have public transportation. The harder question is whether enough people can use it without building their entire day around the system’s limitations.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City combines extreme geographic spread with one of the lowest public transportation commuting shares among large American cities. In 2024, 76 percent of workers drove alone, while the public transit share rounded to zero percent.
The city covers more than 600 square miles, giving transit planners the punishing task of connecting widely separated homes, workplaces and commercial districts. EMBARK operates local buses, RAPID service and the Oklahoma City Streetcar, but the streetcar is concentrated around downtown and Bricktown rather than functioning as a citywide rail network.
The result is a system that can work well for certain destinations but becomes far less practical when a trip begins or ends beyond its strongest corridors. In Oklahoma City, the short average commute may look encouraging, but that convenience is overwhelmingly delivered by automobiles rather than public transportation.
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis earns its position near the top because its problems go beyond limited coverage. The city has also faced service instability, aging vehicles and schedules that can impose punishing waits on people who have no other transportation option.
Census estimates show 74 percent of Memphis workers drove alone in 2024, 13 percent carpooled and only 1 percent used public transportation. Those figures are especially troubling in a city where reliable mobility can determine whether a worker keeps a job, reaches a medical appointment or buys groceries.
MATA’s 2026 service materials show routes with frequencies ranging from 60 minutes to as long as 90 or 120 minutes during certain periods. The agency is trying to stabilize operations, with $37 million identified to add 45 buses over three years, and 12 fixed-route buses scheduled to arrive in 2026.
Those investments are desperately needed. When a bus comes once every hour or two, a missed connection is not a minor inconvenience. It can destroy an entire day’s schedule.
Arlington, Texas
Arlington stands apart from every other city on this list. Despite being a major city positioned between Dallas and Fort Worth, it still does not operate a conventional citywide fixed route bus system.
In 2024, 71 percent of Arlington workers drove alone, 14 percent carpooled, and the public transportation share rounded to zero percent. Those numbers reflect a city where mobility has historically depended on access to a private vehicle.
Arlington On Demand provides app-based shared rides across the city, but the city itself describes the service as having no fixed routes and no fixed schedules. It generally operates from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and it does not run on Sundays, limiting its usefulness for late-night workers and people whose schedules fall outside standard operating hours.
The city also launched Arlington Express as a limited commuter pilot in 2025, operating during weekday peak periods. That service marked progress, but a small pilot and an on-demand fleet cannot provide the capacity, predictability, or independence associated with a frequent fixed route network.
That is why Arlington takes the top spot. In most struggling transit cities, residents complain that the bus does not come often enough. In Arlington, many residents do not have a traditional bus route to wait for in the first place.
