PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Transit leaders are comparing notes about rebuilding ridership, as the American Public Transportation Association Wednesday opened a three-day meeting in Philadelphia.
Ridership on all modes of public transportation took a well-documented hit because of COVID-19. SEPTA is serving only 51% of the riders it had before the pandemic.
Across all modes of public transportation, nationwide ridership is about 65% of what it was before COVID-19, said APTA President and CEO Paul Skoutelas.
Bringing riders back was a topic on the minds of APTA members as they began meeting at the Center City Marriott to discuss the future of intercity rail service.
“It has been a difficult last two years, without any question,” Skoutelas told KYW Newsradio.
“The transit industry has been hit very hard, not terribly different than many other industries including aviation and others. So what we're really looking at here is an opportunity for the industry to bounce back and come back as people start to go back to the office in larger numbers.”
As businesses bring more workers into the office, often led by government efforts like 2021's "Ready. Set. Philly," ridership is slowly rebounding, Skoutelas said.
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“We’re going to see people get back to a bit more of a normal,” Skoutelas said.
”I’m not going to say the exact normal pre-pandemic, but more of a normal than what we’ve had.”
Skoutelas hesitates to predict, however, when he believes ridership may reach a full return to pre-COVID-19 levels.
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“I think that’s a question no one can really answer for sure,” he said.
“We believe that it will happen in due time. It may be several years out, but I think the agencies have taken this time with the pandemic to reposition their services.”
Transit agencies like SEPTA have done that, he said, by offering fare discounts to commuters and by shifting service to meet growing mid-day and weekend demand.
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“We know from the way the economy is going that there are corridors where the demand is stronger than others, and so I think there is a repositioning of service in that regard,” Skoutelas said.
Should gasoline prices remain high, Skoutelas said, more commuters will consider mass transit as an option.
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Another challenge facing every transit agency including SEPTA, he pointed out, is hiring enough workers.
“At a time when they’re looking to add more service, or at least to rearrange their services to be more appealing to the riding public, we’re finding many agencies having a difficult time attracting the workforce,” Skoutelas said.
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APTA members include 1,500 public and private transit organizations and vehicle manufacturers.
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