mass transit

noun

|Updated on: 13 Aug 2018

Definition of mass transit

chiefly US

: the transportation of large numbers of people by means of buses, subway trains, etc., especially within urban areas; also : the system, vehicles, or facilities engaged in such transportation

I rode mass transit—first the bus, then Metro—for nearly two decades.
—Fred Barnes

See mass transit defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of mass transit from the Web

That money is gone, baby, and so is any promise of transformative mass transit for the region.

— dan rodricks, baltimoresun.com, "Real-time buses, asphalt aspirations, unconventional wisdom," 22 June 2018
And he basically is given coaching and skills training and then has a job today at another company called Friedman Seating, which is a manufacturer of mass transit seats.

— recode staff, Recode, "Full transcript: Obama administration Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker on Recode Decode," 21 June 2018
Because, despite attempts to make the city’s loss of Amazon’s second headquarters about a lack of mass transit, Amazon made clear what this region — and the state — lack more: a furious devotion to education.

— rochelle riley, Detroit Free Press, "Riley: Duggan touts triumphs in State of the City — but fixing schools is crucial," 6 Mar. 2018
That headline followed a Times op-ed in which the mayor essentially gloated over the mass transit ills of both New York City and Washington, D.C. while boasting of his own system's supposedly high approval rate and improvements.

— The Hive, "New York Not Impressed By Rahm Emanuel’s Gloating," 5 July 2017
During Mayor Virginia Raggi's tenure at City Hall, the Italian capital has endured an ailing mass transit system and pileups of uncollected trash.

— frances d'emilio, Fox News, "Italy's anti-migrant minister steals partner party's show," 8 July 2018
Metal detectors are omnipresent, from the stadiums and subways to popular streets and intersections, and bag scanners are common on mass transit and at train stations.

— brian straus, SI.com, "The World Cup of Chaos: Looking Back on a Group Stage for the Ages," 29 June 2018
This year’s $100 million windfall was part of a banner year for mass transit in the General Assembly.

— david wickert, ajc, "Deal to unveil $100M in ‘groundbreaking’ new transit funding," 19 June 2018
Compare that to an hour of hell or more in a car during Chicago's rush hour or the 45 minutes on mass transit for the same journey.

— CBS News, "Elon Musk says high-speed underground train in Chicago could be finished in 3 years," 15 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mass transit.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.