PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Traffic on the Delaware River bridges is almost back to what it was before COVID-19, but PATCO ridership is still way down.
Toll revenue from traffic on the four Delaware River Port Authority bridges has rebounded to about 90% of pre-pandemic levels, but PATCO is seeing only about 36% of its pre-COVID-19 ridership.
“We believe that some people...who would be PATCO riders right now are taking their cars," said Delaware River Port Authority CEO John Hanson. He believes that interestingly, traffic and PATCO ridership are both up on the weekends.
“That tells us that people are more back to normal on their leisure activities and personal time activities than they are at the work level.”
Related
PATCO General Manager John Rink said businesses are telling the “Ready, Set, Philly” campaign that they expect to bring workers back to the office after Labor Day, but not for a full five-day week.
"The majority have been telling them three or four days with one or two days remote," said Rink.
Related
Even then, Rink expects PATCO ridership to rebound to only about 50% of pre-COVID levels.
Would PATCO consider reducing fares to lure riders back? Maybe, Hanson said. But what will truly get them back on board is giving them a need to travel to their workplaces.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of incentives we offer if they don’t have somewhere to go," he admitted.
Hanson said that until the end of next year, the revenue losses are being offset by federal COVID-19 relief funds.