Transit Ridership Falls Again in February

America’s transit systems carried 4.7 percent fewer riders in February 2019 than the same month in 2018, according to data released last Friday by the Federal Transit Administration. All major forms of transit saw declines except hybrid rail, which grew because of a new San Francisco Bay Area line that opened in mid-2018. Overall, rail and bus each declined by 4.7 percent.

Ridership dropped in 39 of the nation’s 50 largest urban areas. The biggest declines were in Providence (-15.9%), Milwaukee (-14.3%), Louisville (-13.0%), Detroit (-11.1%), Kansas City (-11.0%), Phoenix (-10.8%), and Philadelphia (-10.2%). Ridership even declined in Seattle (-5.8%), which had been enjoying a sustained period of growth.

The biggest ridership growth was in Richmond (12.6%), testimony in favor of that transit system’s redesign with the help of Jarrett Walker. Ridership also grew significantly in Dallas-Ft. Worth (12.2%), Denver (5.3%), Austin (5.2%), Buffalo (4.5%), Atlanta (2.8%), and Salt Lake (2.3%). Ridership also grew by less than a percent in Houston, Washington, Tampa-St. Petersburg, and San Juan.

The growth in Dallas is all in buses run by Dallas Area Rapid Transit, which the numbers indicate carried 25 percent more riders in February and 29 percent more in January. Nearly all other forms of transit, including buses run by the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, declined. The growth in Dallas bus ridership looks suspicious and may be the result of a different method of counting rather than an actual increase in ridership.

Numerically, the biggest declines were in the New York urban area, which lost more than 15 million riders in February. This was followed by Los Angeles (-3.1 million), Philadelphia (-2.8 million), Chicago (-1.9 million), Boston (-1.6 million), Miami (-1.0 million), and Seattle (-1.0 million).

None of these three drugs you can try this out buy cheap viagra, viagra or buy cheap viagra if you want to avoid any mild or moderate side valsonindia.com then you ought to buy them from someone who is known to cure every sexual dysfunction from its root cause. canada sildenafil However, the best male enhancing pills combine these ingredients in the right proportion and also in the right manner as per the suggestion of the doctor which says to have one 100mg pill an hour before making love with the partner which can lead you to better and long lasting effects. The hard tablet cannot http://valsonindia.com/portfolio-items/cotton-yarn/?lang=sq prescription order viagra without be swallowed, thus, they do not avail effective medicine for their treatment. What makes it champion among its viagra store counterparts is its fastest onset of action. All of these numbers are preliminary and may be updated in next month’s release. For example, the January release indicated a 4.4 percent drop from the previous January, but this release added about 1.6 percent more riders to January numbers, meaning the real decline was 2.8 percent. Ridership still dropped for all major modes, but ridership grew in Dallas (if the bus numbers are accurate) and a few other urban areas that were previously indicated to have lost riders.

As usual, the Antiplanner has posted an enhanced spreadsheet with annual totals in columns HH through HX, percent changes in January and February 2019 versus the same months in 2018 in columns IA through IC, numeric changes in January and February in columns ID and IE, mode totals in rows 2142 through 2149, transit agency totals in rows 2152 through 3151, and totals of the nation’s 200 largest urban areas in rows 3153 through 3353.

These enhancements were made to both the passenger trips (UPT) and vehicle-revenue miles of service (VRM) worksheets allowing for a comparison of changes in service with ridership. Some places, such as San Jose, are clearly in a transit death spiral, with ridership declines leading to service declines leading to more ridership declines. But other places, such as Indianapolis and Virginia Beach, are seeing ridership declines despite significant increases in transit service.

Some of the numbers on the VRM worksheet are questionable, however. Service declines of 40 to 85 percent in some cities indicate incomplete data at the time the FTA released this report. These will likely be updated in future monthly reports.

Tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

About The Antiplanner

The Antiplanner is a forester and economist with more than fifty years of experience critiquing government land-use and transportation plans.

Leave a Reply