06/21/2021

Transit Agencies Are Trying Everything to Lure You Back

Systems in Cleveland and other cities are offering reduced fares or free rides

Last week in Washington, D.C., the board of the Metropolitan Area Transit Authority did something almost unheard of: It offered riders more service for less money.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, as plunging ridership brought on financial woes, the agency reduced the area’s subway and bus service. Now it has promised to ramp up buses and trains on weekdays, weekends and late at night, with some bus lines operating even more often than they did before the pandemic. Riders, meanwhile, will pay a flat $2 fee on weekends instead of a fare based on how far they travel, they won’t have to shell out for bus transfers and they’ll get a break on weekly bus passes. The plan will “better meet the needs of existing riders, reflect new travel patterns and lifestyle changes as well as attract returning and new customers,” the Metro head said.

Those new travel patterns remain unclear. But officials in Washington and elsewhere are mulling the roles that buses, subways, and trains will play in cities transformed by a year-long public health crisis. They want to win riders back—and they’re willing to try a few out-of-the-box strategies to do it.

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.