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1 1 (April 18, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govefoy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: sas\\Congressional aResearch Service Public Transportation Faces Post-Pandemic Challenges April 18, 2022 The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had an unprecedented effect on public transportation agency budgets. Public transportation agencies have kept many buses and trains running, especially to support the travel of essential workers, but ridership and fare revenues have plummeted. Public transportation agency budgets have been supported by federal supplemental appropriations totaling $69.5 billion, about five times the pre-pandemic $12 billion in annual federal public transportation support and more than three times the $19 billion coming from fares and other operating revenue annually. While the pandemic is challenging the public transportation industry nationwide, its financial effects are pronounced most on agencies that operate the 15 subway and 32 commuter rail systems in the United States, the largest of which are located in the New York metropolitan area. This is because subways and commuter rail have lost a greater share of ridership than bus systems due to the pandemic and are typically more reliant on fares to cover operating costs. These trends, if they hold, have implications for federal public transportation policy. Ridership Trends Nationally, public transportation ridership in 2020 and 2021 was less than half of what it was before the pandemic-about 4.7 billion and 4.9 billion trips, respectively, compared with about 10.0 billion trips in 2019. Subway and commuter rail ridership declined more than bus ridership, particularly early in the pandemic. Patronage of all three modes has recovered to some extent, but in the final quarter of 2021, ridership was far lower than in the final pre-pandemic quarter at the end of 2019 (Figure 1). Commuter rail ridership, 45% of the pre-pandemic level, has been slowest to recover, while subway ridership was at 53% of the late 2019 level. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11913 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress