New York's Commuter Rail Ridership May Never Reach Pre-Pandemic Levels

As reported by Matthew Haag and Patrick McGeehan, New York City's commuter rail services are continuing to experience drastically reduced ridership as the five-day office workweek seems increasingly obsolete. "In 2019, the regional transit agencies collectively carried more than 500 million passengers across the New York area, but ridership in 2021 declined by more than half of that prepandemic level." According to the MTA, the agency collected only $49 million in fares in 2021, down from $346 million in 2019.

The authors note that sales of monthly passes on commuter rail are down by 75 percent, leading to a dramatic drop in revenue despite optimistic projections from transit agencies. "Even as transit officials insist that the commuter railroads will start bouncing back in notable numbers this year, the agency is also acknowledging that the pandemic is more and more likely to lead to permanent changes in the region’s commuting pattern."

The agency has approved discounted passes to incentivize riders, but many former commuters show little interest in returning to hours-long commutes and passes that cost upward of $300. The article quotes Phil Pescatore, chief ethics officer at Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, who used to commute into the city from New Jersey. "'It’s been found time, and I have repurposed that time,' Mr. Pescatore said. 'I do things that I hadn’t had a chance to do: a bit more exercise in the morning, and the ability to think and plan a little bit more.'"