Originally Posted by
Oldairhead
Yes, agreed! The Covid crisis has done more to set back public transportation than any issue ever! People (including myself) are in their cars more than ever before, it's our safe space, it's how we eat out, it is how we social distance. The lack of ridership is causing huge financial problems for most public trans systems and most have reduced their schedules and cutback service drastically. These trends will likely continue for years before there is a turnaround. Even post-pandemic, people are not likely to jam shoulder to shoulder in a spall transit space for a long time!
+1000000000000
I could not agree more. The New York MTA is burning through hundreds of millions of dollars due to lack of passengers. We are going to see massive transit cuts if the vaccines don't work and there's not doubt about it. However, rail is really going to take a hit because they are running trains that are less than half full or sometimes practically empty. Subways can only break even if the trains are packed and that may not happen for years or decades!
In my state of New Jersey, the buses are still running at the same volume as though nothing happened. People are using them but in general, they are about half full. I don't know how much longer NJ Transit can continue to provide this level of service. Troubling time indeed.
Personally, I take the bus once a week to get exercise. I put the bike on the rack, travel 15 miles and ride back home just to get out and get some exercise.