Are all three the same thing? Yes and no.
Yes in the sense that they all generally describe the same item. No in the sense that different countries throughout the so-called Anglosphere have a clear preference for one term above all the others. Consider this graph:
This is from Google Insight and shows the relative interest in Public Transportation between the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Clearly, the graph demonstrates that Americans are far, far, far more interested in Public Transportation than their English-speaking counterparts.
But hold on. Let’s change the search term to Public Transport. Do that and look what you get:
Suddenly Australia LOVES Public Transport and Americans and Canadians couldn’t be less interested. The Brits and Kiwis possess interest that’s middling at best.
Now let’s do it again. This time, let’s use the term Public Transit. What happens then?
In this situation, no one loves Public Transit more than Canadians.
So yes, public transit, public transport and public transportation are all the same things – but not really.
Also: Pay close enough attention and you’ll spot one truly bizarre phenomenon that these graphs reveal. Can you spot it? I’ll discuss it further on Monday.
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