Steve Polzin, a researcher with the Department of Transportation, estimates that transit will recover 90 percent of its prepandemic riders by 2023, but will never get much more than that. I think 90 percent is far too high, but he has access to more data than I have.
This chart is based on numbers on page 9 of Polzin’s presentation.
Polzin, who has been mentioned here many times before, made his projection in a presentation last week to the Transportation Research Forum. The presentation covered far more than just transit, and made good points about air travel, freight, and other modes as well. Continue reading
