by Betsey Piette

Betsey Piette, managing editor and regular contributor to Workers World and an organizer for the Workers World Party in Philadelphia, summarizes her chapter.

Full Chapter:

While I have yet to visit China, one of its technological achievements that particularly interests me is the expansive transportation system, which includes the “bullet trains” connecting Beijing to dozens of other major Chinese cities, and the metro subways developed within those cities to meet the transportation needs of workers. Five of the ten largest metro networks in the world are in China. I was motivated to write about them after witnessing the recent, contrasting changes to U.S. transit systems.

In late 2022, my partner and I decided to sell our house in a Philadelphia border suburb and rent an apartment in the city. We made several trips through Philadelphia, armed with a map produced by the Southeast Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA), that showed all the transportation routes available in each area of the city. We wanted to be within walking distance of a train or bus that would give us access to Center City. 

We found an apartment complex within a short distance of not one, but two Regional Rail lines and five bus routes. Fast forward to today, after the cuts in Pennsylvania’s funding for SEPTA, only one of those bus routes remains. As of January 1, 2026, the closest Regional Rail line into the center of the city will no longer exist. Ours is not an isolated area; we live close to a major university, and across from a K-12 school.

As I write this essay, the first round of SEPTA’s threatened draconian cuts went into effect on August 24, 2025. Thirty-two of their 150 bus routes were eliminated, and 16 others were shortened. The 88 remaining buses, trolleys and subways now have reduced services with fewer daily trips. Starting September 2, fewer trains will run on the subway/elevated rail system. Fares will increase to $2.90 one way—one of the two highest of all U.S. metro areas. Beginning in January 2026, five Regional Rail lines will be eliminated, and all metro and regional lines will stop service at 9 p.m. every night.

Philadelphia, and its surrounding counties, are the sixth-largest urban area in the United States with a population of 4 million people. The cuts impact over 50,000 high school students who depend on public transportation to get to school. Philadelphia is a college town, so the impact on universities will be huge. Millions of workers in the region are left without means of getting to and from work. Seniors will be unable to get to doctor appointments. Thousands of SEPTA workers face layoffs as the cuts take effect.

Yet in 2026, as the first U.S. capital, Philadelphia will be the center of events celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The city is scheduled to host several major sporting events including six FIFA World Cup matches, the 2026 Major League Baseball All Star Games, the first and second rounds of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Men’s Basketball Tournament, and the 108th Professional Golfers’ Association Championship. Just how participants will get to and from these events, given SEPTA’s deep cuts, remains a mystery. 

Philadelphia is Not Unique

SEPTA claims that the lack of $213 million in support from Pennsylvania makes cuts up to 50% through 2026 a necessity, on top of a 20% increase in fares. It is possible that the state legislature, or even the city, will find a solution to the cuts, but the transit crisis in Philadelphia is not unique. 

Over 45% of people, especially in rural and suburban areas in the U.S., lack access to public transit services. Where services exist, there are an inadequate number of routes, infrequent service, and antiquated trains and rail structures. Cities throughout the U.S. opened very little transit access in 2024, adding just 29 kilometers (18 miles) of light rail and no new metro rail service.¹ 

U.S. mass transit systems, including those in Boston, Washington, and the Bay Area face imminent funding gaps. Mass transit in Chicago, the third-largest U.S. city with a broader metropolitan population of 9.5 million, has a deficit of hundreds of millions of dollars. If the Illinois legislature does not act, half the branches of the Chicago Transit Authority L will stop, and 74 bus routes will be eliminated.² 

This all comes at a time when President Donald Trump’s administration has reduced federal support for public transit with a 98% cut to transit capital investment grants, bringing a halt to projects intended to provide improved subways, bus lines and rapid transit. Discretionary funding for Amtrak’s national network, including the Northeast Corridor, has been eliminated. 

At the same time, Trump proposed a 13% increase in defense spending for fiscal 2026, increasing Pentagon spending to over $1 trillion. Just .002% of the military’s budget would cover SEPTA’s shortfall. Expenditures for the U.S. military, Homeland Security, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement could pay for transit systems across the U.S., but under our capitalist system, this isn’t going to happen.

More Roads, More Cars, More Pollution 

Through April 30, 2025, U.S. states committed $202 billion in highway and bridge funds to support over 96,000 new projects, increasing roadway lane-miles by 28,500. More highways lead to more cars on the road, producing more pollution. With significant backing from the oil and gas industry, it is no surprise that Trump is pushing for an expansion of natural gas production, a major contributor to rising levels of greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, Trump has eliminated tax breaks for electric vehicles. 

China Surges Ahead 

Over a year ago, I happened to watch a YouTube video produced by Living in China about the advances that China was making in mass transit. This piqued my interest, and I wanted to know more.³

In July, the Philadelphia Workers World Party hosted an event in Philadelphia with Dee Knight, author of Befriending China: People-to-People Peacemaking, in which Knight writes:

“[Shanghai’s] Underground, the metro hums along; more than 20 lines rival the extent of New York’s MTA, and humble it for cleanliness, courteous service and safety. All the stations have escalators, elevators, and super clean floors. They also have moving barriers between the passenger platforms and incoming and outgoing trains, to protect the riders.”⁴ 

Knight described the bullet train that nearly “flew” from Shanghai to Beijing in just four hours—covering about the same 793-mile distance from New York to Chicago: 

“These bullet trains now connect all of China’s major cities, following the gigantic infrastructure projects of recent decades. The U.S. has no bullet trains, and cannot seem to find the financing for them, especially since the profit potential in military production is so much higher. Europe has some very good fast trains among about a dozen cities, but none is as fast as those in China.”⁵

China has built the most extensive and fastest-expanding transit system in the world, starting in 1969 with the Beijing Subway. With over 50 cities operating networks and more under construction, today China’s urban rail transit has become a cornerstone of its infrastructure development. China has five of the world’s ten largest metro systems, surpassing two of the oldest transit systems in the world—London’s Underground, inaugurated in 1863, and New York City’s Subway Metro, built in 1906.⁶ 

China’s systems include the Shanghai Metro—topping the list of the world’s longest rapid transit rail systems. It began operation in 1993, serving both urban and suburban municipal districts for one of China’s largest cities, handling 10 million passengers daily. It stretches 365 miles, including 508 stations across 20 lines. The system plans to add additional lines and connect two other systems in Jiangsu province in the coming years. 

Constructed in 1969, China’s 345-mile-long Beijing Subway is the second-longest rapid transit system in the world. It now encompasses most districts in Beijing, with 18 lines that serve 334 stations, carrying just over 9 million passengers a day, with a total of 3.25 billion passengers per year—making it the world’s busiest rapid transit system. 

Beijing, as China’s capital city with over 22 million residents, is a major hub attracting tourists and hosting numerous international and national sporting events, including both the Summer and Winter Olympics in 2022. To meet Beijing’s growing needs for transit, there are plans to add 650 more miles.

Opened in December 2004, the Shenzhen Metro is the world’s fifth-largest metro system. The massive underground network currently stretches for over 300 miles, in the city of Shenzhen in Guangdong Province. The newest lines opened in December 2024, expanding the network to 369 miles. In 2017, Shenzhen also became China’s first city to electrify 100% of its 16,000 buses, cutting carbon emissions by 48%. 

Opened in 1967, China’s fourth-largest transit system is the Guangzhou Metro. The 150-mile-long subway has 16 lines serving 302 stations. Daily passenger counts average around 6.2 million. Since 1997, the Guangzhou Metro has offered free rides to transit workers and their immediate families. 

Opened in 2005, the 140-mile-long Nanjing Metro rapid transit system is located in the Jiangsu Province of China, servicing the city of Nanjing. The system has 6 lines with 121 stations and includes 202 rail cars. The daily passenger count was as high as 2.248 million. Future plans include expansion lines to connect to He County and Anhui Province.

In addition, China’s high-speed rail network connects major cities across the country. The largest globally, it spans just under 25,000 miles. 

An article by HROne titled “Public Transportation in China” addressed the rapid gains that China has made in public transit: “As of 2023, the nation is home to over 1,000 cities with public transit systems that include buses, subways, and light rail” that “served approximately 12 billion passengers in 2022.” HROne notes that public transit in China has helped alleviate congestion while reducing pollution.⁷ 

The article references a study by the multinational professional services network Deloitte that found that “investments in public transportation can yield considerable economic returns, with every dollar spent potentially generating up to four dollars in economic activity.” 

The demand for skilled workers in China’s public transportation is projected to rise by 20% in the next five years.⁸ The affordability of China’s public transit—with fares as low as 30 to 80 cents (U.S.) helps households save up to 25% of their monthly incomes by reducing reliance on cars. Jusha.travel notes that the HSR, by linking smaller cities and regions to major hubs like Beijing and Shanghai, has reduced travel times by up to 70%. This has enabled labor mobility, tourism growth, supply chain efficiency, and saves roughly $20 billion annually in congestion-related economic losses.⁹

China’s public transit systems have had a positive impact on the environment, with the widespread use of electronic buses. The rate of electrification of China’s railways is 75.2%—significantly reducing carbon emissions by 30% over the last five years, according to a recent report by the China Academy of Transportation Sciences. China plans to electrify 80% of buses and taxis by 2025 through government subsidies of over $14 billion.¹⁰ 

Motivation for Transport Developments—U.S. Versus China

No essay on China’s mass transit systems, especially when compared to those in the U.S., would be complete without understanding what motivated these developments. 

In the U.S., war and spending for infrastructure development are closely linked. Historically the U.S. government prioritized improvements in supply chain infrastructure, including transit, when it benefited the U.S. military. The Civil War, for example, significantly increased the use of railroads. In January 1862, President Abraham Lincoln gave the U.S. Military Railroad, established through the U.S. War Department, the authority to seize control of the railroads for military use. The USMRR restricted its authority to Confederate rail lines captured during the war, giving the Union a strategic military advantage over the Confederacy. 

Construction on the first transcontinental railroad began soon after the war and was completed in May 1869. The expanded rail system played a significant role in the westward expansion of U.S. imperialism, including the theft and occupation of Indigenous lands and the genocide of Indigenous peoples, and the near-annihilation of the native buffalo.

The First Transcontinental Highway

In 1956, during the Cold War with the Soviet Union, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation to fund construction of the interstate highway system, officially known as the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways. Between then and 1990, around 45,000 miles of new interstate roads were constructed, using $119 billion in federal funds. 

As an Army Lt. Colonel in 1919 after World War I, Eisenhower had observed the First Transcontinental Motor Convoy, a military experiment in moving troops from coast to coast in the U.S. that confronted a patchwork system of paved and unpaved roads, aging bridges too low for trucks to pass under, and mountain roads too narrow for two-way traffic. During World War II, Eisenhower observed the far superior German Autobahn system, which included national highways connecting all parts of that country. 

‘Red Scare’ Highways

When Eisenhower was president, the construction of the first mammoth coast-to-coast highway construction in the U.S. was fueled by the “Red Scare”—the perceived threat of nuclear war after the Soviet Union developed an atomic bomb as protection against the U.S., which had used this weapon in Japan in 1945. In 1954, Eisenhower appointed West Point-trained engineer Lt. Gen. Lucius Clay to promote the highways. The “Clay Committee” pushed the multibillion-dollar plan by generating public fear and arguing the highways were essential for emergency evacuation of large cities and quick movement of troops in the event of a nuclear attack. 

Touted as “modern marvels,” the interstate highways resulted in the forced removal of over 475,000 households to make way for construction of the system. A majority of those displaced lived in low-income urban communities with high concentrations of Black, Latine, Indigenous and immigrant people.

Military interests served to promote domestic infrastructure development during the rise of U.S. global imperialism, but over time, military spending became a drain on resources vital for domestic programs. Nowhere is this more evident than in the current state of U.S. infrastructure. As the U.S. nears its 250th anniversary, capitalism’s decline is evidenced by the inability to develop infrastructure expansion to benefit the population. 

China: Human Needs Prioritized

The People’s Republic of China, now 75 years old, has prioritized the human needs of its population, in planned efforts to lift people out of poverty. It has invested heavily in mass transit and electronic vehicles including trains, buses, cars and scooters. Rather than driven by profit or the need for military expansion, the evolution of China’s public transportation system stemmed from the need for rapid urbanization coupled with the centralized planning that propelled China following the 1949 revolution. 

During the period between 1949-1978, resources were directed toward development of industry and agriculture. Transportation in China consisted of overcrowded buses, limited rail infrastructure, and reliance on bicycles and foot traffic. Economic reforms in the 1980s depended on migration to urban cities like Beijing and Shanghai that became overwhelmed with traffic congestion and pollution. 

A shift after the introduction of market-oriented policies came in the 1990s as the government increased infrastructure spending. The Communist Party of China had already prioritized metro systems, building Beijing’s first subway line in 1969, with rapid expansion in the 2000s. The Beijing Olympics in 2008 spurred modernization, with investments in high-capacity transit, and smart technologies. Long-term government planning, including the Medium-and Long-Term Railway Network Plan of 2004, opened the way to build the world’s largest high-speed rail network.

The systems created since then in over 50 cities are not only a testament to China’s engineering prowess, but also a critical solution to the challenges of urbanization, traffic congestion and pollution. China’s planners understand that mass transit effectively alleviates traffic congestion and reduces pollution, thus contributing to more sustainable cities. While some of the systems are aging, and accessibility and overcrowding remain problems, China continues to innovate and invest in sustainable solutions. 

These are all questions of priority. Do the needs of the people—transportation, health care, education, and so on—come first, as they do in China, or does the drive for profits from the military-industrial complex, as it does in the U.S.? 

In a letter to the editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer in September of 2025, regarding the SEPTA cuts, W.B. Lowry, a student at Temple University Beasley School of Law, suggests that it may be time to internationalize the fight for Philadelphia’s transit network by reaching out to the People’s Republic of China for a grant to fund SEPTA:

“As the United States undertakes a retreat from its position of global leadership, many observers are wondering if we are at the cusp of the “Chinese Century.” China is funding infrastructure projects all over the world as part of its “Belt and Road initiative,” and China’s dynamic domestic infrastructure projects make a stark contrast with America’s crumbling public roads and our woefully inadequate national railway network. There is a real opportunity for China to cement its status as a world leader by stepping up to help SEPTA riders, who have been abandoned by our own government. There are also the historic ties between the city of Philadelphia and China: Temple University was one of the first American schools to establish academic ties with China in the late 1970s and maintains a vibrant academic relationship with Chinese universities today.

The question remains whether our request will be enough to motivate our state government to finally do its job, but SEPTA is too important to the region to let it collapse without exhausting every possible avenue to secure funding.”¹¹

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¹Yonah Freemark, “Transit Project Openings in 2025: A Global Review,” The Transport Politic, January 12, 2025, https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/author/yonah-freemark/.

²Thomas Fitzgerald, “SEPTA’s Massive Cuts Are Here and It’s ‘Bad on so Many Levels,’” The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 24, 2025, https://www.inquirer.com/transportation/septa-cuts-take-effect-sunday-20250824.html.

³America CAN’T Compete with China’s Infrastructure!, Living in China, February 3, 2023, 00:10:23, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul5rqQGaLQ4.

⁴Dee Knight, Befriending China: People-to-People Peacemaking (Solidarity Publications, 2025), 31.

⁵Knight, Befriending China: People-to-People Peacemaking, 34.

⁶Zee Media Bureau, “Top 10 Largest Metro Networks In The World Including Delhi Metro: 831 Km, 508 Stations, 20 Lines And More; Check Full List,” Zee News, July 15, 2025, https://zeenews.india.com/photos/mobility/top-10-largest-metro-networks-in-the-world-including-delhi-metro-831-km-508-stations-20-lines-and-more-check-full-list-2932259.

⁷HROne Team, “Public Transportation in China: An Efficient Journey,” HROne, March 26, 2025, https://hrone.com/blog/public-transportation-in-china-an-efficient-journey/.

⁸HROne Team, “Public Transportation in China: An Efficient Journey.”

⁹“Jusha,” Jusha, 2025, https://jusha.travel/.

¹⁰HROne Team, “Public Transportation in China: An Efficient Journey.”

¹¹W.B. Lowry, letter to the editor, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Septermber 7, 2025, https://reader.inquirer.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=50ae587d-7a70-40fb-8d0a-549ada8813fb.

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Betsey Piette is a managing editor and regular contributor to Workers World and an organizer for the Workers World Party in Philadelphia, where she has lived since 1985. She is active in the Philadelphia Palestine Coalition, Mobilization4Mumia, and other community groups struggling against capitalist oppression. In 2012, she won Cuba’s 10th annual “Thinking Against the Mainstream” international essay contest for her essay “Drilling into the abyss: Why hydraulic fracturing is not a solution for global energy needs or global warming.”