By Shirleen Guerra
The Center Square
Transit ridership has significantly declined across the U.S. since the beginning of COVID-19. Although now rising slowly, transit agencies still see a 22% drop from peak pre-COVID ridership.
Overall weekly ridership went from 196.3 million the week of Jan. 26-Feb. 1, 2020, to 152.7 million the week of Feb. 4-10, 2024. That’s according to reports from the American Public Transportation Association.
Transit ridership dropped from 196.3 million the week of Feb. 1, 2020, to 39.2 million the week of April 5-11, 2020, due to the pandemic. Many transit agencies were shut down across the country.
Locally, OmniRide, the commuter and local bus service provided by the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission, is seeing an upward trend.
“We seem to be on trend. Local service has increased by 25% since 2020. Commuter service is about 75% of prior ridership,” said OmniRide spokeswoman Alyssa Bud Ludwiczak.
The bus company provides services in Prince William, Stafford, and Spotsylvania counties, as well as Manassas and Manassas Park cities.
The latest numbers from Virginia Railway Express, the state’s only commuter railroad, show an average daily ridership of 5,123, down from nearly 20,000 daily in February 2020, before the pandemic hit.
“Persistent telework policies resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic emergency have continued to negatively impact ridership on public transportation in the United States beginning in March 2020,” APTA stated in December.
APTA said office occupancy rates were at about 50% in December. APTA reported that early signs that the slow increase in ridership is from trips to and from residential and commercial areas as opposed to office/work areas.
Potomac Local contributed to this report.
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