Article at a glance:

A streetcar named productivity

Public-transit systems—from buses to subways to commuter railroads—are as varied as the cities they serve and the routes they run. But almost all transit agencies share one unfortunate characteristic: chronic operating deficits. McKinsey’s work benchmarking 48 public-transit agencies on four continents identified best practices and important trade-offs that could help operators close the gap.

The take-away

By adopting best practices in the utilization of drivers, the integration of maintenance and operations, and the collection of tickets, transit operators around the world could save millions in operating costs while improving the quality of service.