There's a pretty clear geographic trend here. The top transit systems are clustered in the Northeast and West. The South, including Texas and Oklahoma, has some of the worst systems, and the Midwest is mixed. Many small cities are missing from the NTD data set, but it's a fair assumption that non-reporting cities generally don't have top-flight transit systems. These cities are disproportionately in the South.
The 42 cities with over 1 million residents show a similar geographic trend:
(http://espnfivethirtyeight.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/fischer-baum-datalab-public-transit-map-24.png?w=610&h=1004)
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/how-your-citys-public-transit-stacks-up/
Interesting graphic. I would say Houston and Dallas stand out by far. We could turn it around pretty fast of we just had some collective will.
I don't expect those two Texas cities to be in the bottom third for long. Both seem to at least be making a real effort to improve their systems. I'm also surprised to see Kansas City in the bottom third. Especially with all the fanfare their BRT system has received over the years. As for Jax, just getting out of the bottom third and into "no-man's" land will be a significant improvement.
The graphic is a little odd that they don't have a third map to highlight the middle third. Instead, I have to check both maps to see which ones aren't colored in both.
And what is this really measuring? What does # of annual trips per capita really say about a transit system? Why do they count transfers as a separate trip? Just some things to ponder. I see Honolulu and SF both in the top 6, two of the more hated systems in the country.
Anyway, I would agree that Houston and Dallas seem to be on the right track, both from a transit connectivity stand point and general walkability. From my experience their light rail is comfortable and well-planned for future growth/expansion. But that's only focusing on what I want to see. For all I know, the general outward development and sprawl might be going just as strong as well, meaning those UAs will remain in the bottom third.