San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's director of strategic planning and policy, Timothy Papandreou, has worked in public transport for 17 years and is in Canberra for two days meeting with government ministers and officials.

He will speak about public transport at a forum in Canberra on Thursday night.

Mr Papandreou said although he was impressed with Canberra's bike lanes, a full-scale public transport system should be the top priority for the government.

He said light rail would be a fantastic next step for Canberra, which he visited as a child.

"This city, I feel like it's starting to gel,'' he said. "All the difference pockets are developing and growing ... so a light rail line or a tram could be something that connects all of the communities together.

"The beautiful thing about rail is that it's like a thread to a needle, it threads everything together and it creates those opportunities for intensifying public spaces. It will actually remove that disconnection that some cities have that don't have rail infrastructure."

Mr Papandreou said the benefits of a fully realised public transport system were plentiful, creating economic opportunities and drawing the city together.

"The cool thing about Canberra is that it is so nascent in terms of its development. It's kind of new, so everything can grow around that rail facility, which would be a nice complement as the city grows," he said. "Many cities are envious of being at that stage."

Mr Papandreou said San Francisco was attempting to integrate the city's public transport system by improving bus lanes, bikes lanes and parking demand management.

"There is no great city in the world that does not have a good public transport system," he said.