public transit

noun

variants US public transit or British public transport

: mass transit

… public transit remains the smartest way to navigate hectic downtowns.

—John Rosenthal

… jobs restoring our water sewage systems, our highways and bridges, our public transit system and our crumbling schools, ports and public buildings.

—Ralph Nader

Examples of public transit in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Commercial occupancy levels in the city, along with retail spending and public transit usage, have gradually been returning to near pre-Covid levels after several difficult years due to the pandemic and other factors. — Dade Hayes, Deadline, 22 July 2026

Day to day, as the city grows, there’s also the question of traffic, which snarls the city as public transit initiatives have repeatedly struggled. — Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 21 July 2026

Road-traffic deaths are preventable, through strengthening of public transit, improvement of trauma care, adoption of existing technology and especially thoughtful road design, which can be as cheap and simple as narrowing lanes to reduce speeds. — Christine Ro, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026

Frustration ran especially high in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh last summer, as Harrisburg failed to provide funding for public transit. — Rebecca Egan McCarthy, New Yorker, 21 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1847, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for public transit

• paratransit