Philly ranks 10th in sustainable urban transportation in North America

Philly managed to crack the top 10 in a new report that ranked 23 North American cities for overall sustainability of its public transit systems.

New York City took the top spot in the North America ranking in the new Arcadis Sustainable Cities Mobility Index, while Philly came in 10th place. Worldwide, though, no U.S. cities made the top 20—Philly came in 57th place.

For the study, Arcadis, a design consultancy group that studies both natural and built assets, looked at more than 20 factors of mobility, such as financial investments put toward improving a city’s public transportation infrastructure, commuting travel time, and affordability of public transit. Specifically, the study zeroed in on three main pillars of sustainability: People (social), planet (environmental), and profit (economic health).

Here’s how Philly fared in the North America ranking:

Courtesy of Arcadis

As the chart indicates, while Philly ranked 10th overall, it performed the best in the planet category, which considers factors like energy, pollution, and emissions from cities’ urban transportation systems.

Overall, the researchers found that North American’s car-dominated culture was the main reason why its cities ranked so poorly in the global ranking. Hong Kong, meanwhile, ranked first globally, topping the “people” category that measures the social and human effects of urban transportation systems, such as quality of life.

Arcadis president of infrastructure Wassim Selman said in a statement, “While some North American cities enjoy well-funded and comprehensive transit systems, most rely heavily on private vehicles and lack developed public transit options. We need to be bold in implementing non-traditional approaches and leveraging technology to meet the mobility needs of our communities today and into the future.”

• Arcadis Sustainable Cities Mobility Index [Official]