ConsumerAffairs ranks Indianapolis 4th worst for public transit, citing low ridership and safety issues
A 2026 ConsumerAffairs ranking placed Indianapolis fourth-worst for public transportation among the 50 largest U.S. urban areas, highlighting particularly low usefulness and operational safety based on 2024 ridership and incident data.
ConsumerAffairs evaluated transit in the 50 largest U.S. urban areas on usefulness, accessibility, affordability and operational safety and ranked Indianapolis No. 4 worst in the 2026 report. The study found Indianapolis had the third-lowest usefulness score, with the average Indianapolis-area resident boarding public transportation about four times in 2024 and traveling about 22 miles that year, both third-lowest among cities studied.
The report also ranked Indianapolis second-worst for operational safety. For 2024 it cited roughly 6.62 collisions, fires or derailments per million vehicle miles traveled in service, and about five people killed or injured in major safety and security events per million miles, according to ConsumerAffairs.
BusinessIndy examines this development and its implications for Indiana businesses and communities using the linked sources.