How Rail Transit Ridership Changed During the Pandemic

Yonah Freemark shares the results of new analysis about how the pandemic has altered ridership patterns on U.S. heavy rail transit systems (i.e., the subway and el trains found in some U.S. cities—New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., and the San Francisco Bay Area in this study).

Here's how Freemark summarizes the findings of this analysis:

Though almost every station I studied saw fewer riders in 2020 compared with 2019, changes varied tremendously based on local characteristics, as neighborhoods with large Black populations, many households with low incomes, and more residents with lower levels of education lost fewer riders than other communities. Stations in employment-dense areas also lost considerably more riders than those in residential zones—likely because white collar workers with employment in downtowns were disproportionately able to work from home.

The source article linked below provides a lot more detail on each of the major findings. Freemark suggests that the ridership data should inform service choices by transit agencies that cater to the core riders that continued riding throughout the pandemic.