rapid transit

noun

1. a system of public transportation in a metropolitan area, usually a subway or elevated train system.

Other Words From

• rapid-transit adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of rapid transit¹

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75

Example Sentences

Investments would also be made to pedestrianize streets and improve rail and bus rapid transit in the city center, to make these options more accessible to people who would otherwise drive.

From Quartz

So even our express lane network becomes almost a bus rapid transit system for bus systems and our carpooling.

From Washington Post

He launched a bus rapid transit system connecting downtown Silver Spring and Burtonsville.

From Washington Post

Building a bus rapid transit system also would have required widening roads and running buses on bridges over streams and wetlands, Engels said.

From Washington Post

In Georgia, MARTA (the Metropolitan Atlantic Rapid Transit Authority) built a huge solar canopy at its bus depot in Decatur.

From The Daily Beast

Consider the October 2013 strike by unionized Bay Area Rapid Transit employees in California.

From The Daily Beast

This platform used to be part of the Interborough Rapid Transit, or IRT.

From The Daily Beast

So many of the conductors were Irish immigrants that the IRT was colloquially called the “Irish Rapid Transit.”

From The Daily Beast

The news of Sarah's rapid transit had hardly cost Nannie the lifting of an eyebrow.

From Project Gutenberg

There is chance for work in this direction, for in spite of rapid transit some must live in the center of things.

From Project Gutenberg

New York City does not seem to have fully outgrown this slow street travel, but elsewhere more rapid transit is the rule.

From Project Gutenberg

Tunnels connect the different railway lines, in order to assist the rapid transit of through trains.

From Project Gutenberg

This applies also to the more rapid transit provided by balloons, automobiles, bicycles, etc.

From Project Gutenberg