Study: Drops in Transit Ridership Linked to Extreme Weather

Extreme weather contributes to a drop in transit ridership, a new study reveals, showing that “America needs to better climate-proof its transit networks and encourage more people to choose shared modes now.”

As Kea Wilson explains in Streetsblog USA, “A recent study of 43 major U.S. transit networks revealed that ridership dropped during long stretches of rain, heat, or other prolonged extreme weather events that scientists link to climate change, at least in the 17 years between when the National Transit Database began collecting stats and 2019, the last year before the pandemic decimated ridership.”

As extreme weather events become more common, this could hinder efforts to encourage transit use and reduce transportation emissions. Weather also impacts transit infrastructure: “During bad snow and rain storms, buses can get snarled in the same traffic as cars, and rail tracks can warp in intense heat, forcing agencies to run trains more slowly or cancel trips outright, leaving even those who would pay the fare with no ride to take.”

Nicole Ngo, lead author on the study, says that transit agencies must significantly expand their efforts to provide shade, cooling greenery, and other climate-controlling measures at bus stops — “and doing so at a vast scale, considering that only about one-fifth of U.S. bus stops even have basic shelters now.”