Linear cities are ideal for transit
Some cities grow along very linear corridors because of their geographic constraints. You can see this in places like Honolulu and San Francisco, where urban development is restricted to just a few areas due to mountain ranges. This is ideal for rapid transit. Linear cities can be really optimally served by transit lines (which are typically linear by their very nature of being a transit line). Linear cities also tend to be relatively dense because those same geographic constraints force cities to build up instead of out.
Linear cities also tend to have very concentrated traffic flows, where everyone is moving up and down the same corridor for their trips. This leads to traffic bottlenecks on highways (e.g. H-1 in Honolulu, or I-15 in Salt Lake City) which transit can provide a competitive alternative to.
Here is San Francisco (geographically constrained) compared to Houston (no constraints) at the same scale. Both have similar populations but SF's development patterns make it way more conducive to transit.
What are some other good examples of linear cities? Would love to hear about cities like this that go under-discussed.