public transit

noun

variants: or British public transport

|Updated on: 13 Aug 2018

Definition of public transit

: mass transit

… an annoying little secret of suburban life is that, even with traffic congestion, it's almost always faster to get somewhere in a car than by riding public transit.
—Gregg Easterbrook

See public transit defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of public transit from the Web

This spring, the Metro Nashville government and civic groups pushed for a multibillion-dollar bond plan to dramatically expand public transit in the region.

— cameron mcwhirter, WSJ, "As Nashville Rapidly Expands, Residents Worry the Metropolis Is Growing Too Fast," 18 June 2018
The system was intended to improve public transit in and around the city after the Republican governor canceled the Red Line light rail project.

— colin campbell, baltimoresun.com, "After one year of BaltimoreLink, ridership has bounced back, but reliability remains below goals," 15 June 2018
On a large scale, none of the officials NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune interviewed favor creating one region-wide transit governing body to manage all public transit in the metro area.

— beau evans, NOLA.com, "How does the New Orleans area get true regional transit?," 20 May 2018
Instead of tapping a Hop Fastpass fare card when boarding public transit in the Portland area, Android users now have the option of tapping a smartphone instead.

— andrew theen, OregonLive.com, "TriMet brings Hop Fastpass technology to Android devices," 17 Apr. 2018
Berkowitz argued that while the railroad generates much of the federal grant money through its passenger service, the money is intended for supporting public transit in urban areas, which is not what the railroad provides.

— author: elwood brehmer, Anchorage Daily News, "Alaska Railroad returned to profitability in 2017," 10 Apr. 2018
Trustee Georgine Welo, South Euclid's mayor, urged the public to question state officials and candidates about their support for public transit.

— grant segall, cleveland.com, "RTA postpones fare hike, talks tax hike (photos)," 27 Mar. 2018
Will having control of bikeshare operations—now a vital part of big-city transit infrastructure that both cuts emissions and keeps riders out of cars and increasingly packed public transit—give Lyft a new bargaining chip?

— patrick sisson, Curbed, "How Lyft’s bikeshare investment might change how we get around cities," 3 July 2018
Rhew said that spectators in Memorial Stadium should leave fold-out chairs at home to avoid turf damage, and try to take public transit to get to the show due to increased traffic.

— rachel jones, charlotteobserver, "Fireworks return to Memorial Stadium after five years. Here's what you need to know.," 2 July 2018

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