In 2016, the much-anticipated Second Avenue Subway line opened in Manhattan, New York. It took nearly a century to finish, and it was the most expensive per-mile subway project… ever — a rare new addition to one of the largest and the oldest subway systems in the world.

By contrast, half a world away, Tokyo has a sprawling web of commuter trains—boasting the 50 busiest train stations in the world. Yet today, even the busiest lines in Tokyo only experience a yearly average delay of 20 seconds — and minimal incidents.

How did Tokyo manage to avoid the friction common in the transit systems of other megacities? In this episode, we examine how officials in post WWII-Japan created one of the most efficient examples of scaled infrastructure in the modern world — and what cities around the world can learn from them.

Special thanks to Alon Levy, Sarah Kaufman, Alex Forrest, and Junichi Sugiyama.

For a transcript of this episode, visit press.stripe.com/public-transit-transcript
For more on Beneath the Surface, visit press.stripe.com/beneath-the-surface
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