I find it a bit bothersome when you start to compare SF to Tokyo. The fact that its subway only serves a bit more than 20% of Tokyo&#x27;s rail traffic, yet at the same time is world top at daily passenger-kms, shows just how massive Tokyo&#x27;s public transport network is. Earthquake safety have nothing to do with this, it&#x27;s simply the ability and will to invest in public transport on a massive scale that&#x27;s proportionate to population growth. I mean just look at table [1]. Japanese do a <i>factor of 25</i> times the rail passenger kms per person compared to Americans. And I don&#x27;t think Americans have a much shorter commute. Another way to put it, Switzerland, in total, with just 8M inhabitants, does <i>1.8x the passenger rail traffic</i> as the whole US [2]. Just think about that for a moment. It doesn&#x27;t matter whether you put it under ground, above ground or through somebody&#x27;s swimming pool - <i>any</i> rail is progress in the US.<p>Edit: Another fun list: The world&#x27;s 50 busiest train stations. Guess how many are Japanese [3].<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Rail_usage_statistics_by_country#Passenger_km_per_head_of_population" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Rail_usage_statistics_by_count...</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Rail_usage_statistics_by_country#Passenger-km_of_rail_transport_per_year" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Rail_usage_statistics_by_count...</a><p>[3] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.rocketnews24.com&#x2F;2013&#x2F;01&#x2F;30&#x2F;the-51-busiest-train-stations-in-the-world-all-but-6-located-in-japan&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.rocketnews24.com&#x2F;2013&#x2F;01&#x2F;30&#x2F;the-51-busiest-train-s...</a>