This is the 4582nd most frequent Chinese word.
比美国
"比美国" means "compared to the United States."
The phrase '比美国' is used to indicate a comparison between Chinese culture and American culture, specifically that the former is richer.
中国的文化比美国更丰富。
Chinese culture is richer than American culture.
The phrasing here employs '比美国' to compare the living costs of the city to those in the United States, emphasizing the lower costs.
这个城市的生活成本比美国低很多。
The living costs in this city are much lower than in the United States.
In this sentence, '与美国相比' serves as a variant of '比美国' to establish a comparison between China's and the United States' public transportation systems, highlighting the greater development in China's system.