Several of the nation’s largest urban mass-transit systems are at a crossroads, with ridership still depressed three years into the pandemic and $69 billion of federal aid running out. I looked at the issue in this article, published on the front page of The Wall Street Journal last week.
While offices have largely reopened and travel has resumed, many commuters are only coming in a few days a week. That shift has left subways, buses and commuter trains operating at well below capacity—particularly on Mondays and Fridays. The ridership shortfall is forcing transit authorities to question their decades-old funding models for public buses, subways and trains, which are based on a combination of rider fares and public money. The drop also has also fueled an increase in transit crime, which in turn has pushed away more riders.
The problem is worst in places that were particularly reliant on fare revenue — such as New York and San Francisco. Before the pandemic, the New York City subway (run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority) and Bay Area Rapid Transit both covered more than half of their operating costs from fares.
On average, fares provided about a third of the operating income for transit systems nationwide in 2019, according to the Federal Transit Administration. Systems that never relied much on fares to cover their budget, like Dallas or my hometown of Albany, are in better shape than some of the larger urban systems.
They’re left with a difficult choice between three basic options: cut service to save money, increase fares to bring in more money (and hope it doesn’t turn off too many riders) or find some new source of income.
“The more you lose a ridership base, the more difficult it becomes to maintain a level of service that people are used to,” said P.S. Sriraj, director of the Urban Transportation Center at the University of Illinois, Chicago. “It’s becoming a vicious cycle.”
The MTA last month disclosed plans to cut some Monday and Friday service and increase rider fares this year. But really, its leaders are pushing for option three — and they’re going to spend the next several months pushing city, state and federal lawmakers for some new stream of cash.
“We need to be up front with everybody about where we are in terms of having a successful funding model,” said Janno Lieber, the MTA’s chair and chief executive. “Mass transit is like air and water for New Yorkers—we cannot live without it.”
You can read the entire article here. And you can also weigh in: what should happen to transit, and if you think there should be more non-rider revenue, what’s the best way to raise it?
THE QUESTION: The New York City subway was first operated by a private company. What was its name?
Know the answer? Drop me a line at jimmy.vielkind@gmail.com. Or just write with thoughts, feedback or to say hi.
THE LAST ANSWER:According to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers, the first woman elected governor of a U.S. state was Wyoming'sNellie Tayloe Rossin 1925.