Fare Play: Who’s Riding Public Transport?

April 17 is World Public Transport Day. Led by The International Association of Public Transport (UITP), the day celebrates daily commutes as part of sustainable, thriving cities. To mark it, we’re taking a look at Statista’s latest Consumer Insights survey data on public transportation usage in a selection of countries. South Koreans reported some of the highest usage levels among the surveyed commuters at 43 percent, while the United States was at the other end of the spectrum with only 14 percent of respondents saying the same.

All of these figures were dwarfed by the share of respondents who said they used their own car to get to work. In the U.S., a high 73 percent of respondents said they used a car to commute, while in Japan the gap was far narrower, with 42 percent saying they used a car versus 32 percent who used public transport.