Beverly Scott
Jarrett Walker
PART 1: HOW THE PANDEMIC WALLOPED TRANSIT SYSTEMS
When Americans were told to avoid crowded spaces, that meant buses and trains, subways and streetcars. Our policy hackers outlined what happened in the months that followed, and some of the lessons policymakers learned along the way.
Widespread service cuts
Nationally, transit ridership fell by 80 percent, so it’s no wonder that many agencies dialed service way back. Some switched to a weekend schedule or stopped late-night service.
But hackathon participants said those cutbacks soon created new problems. Essential workers working low-paying service jobs whose value Americans finally recognized but didn’t remunerate still had to go to work at grocery stores, nursing homes, hospitals and, yes, transit agencies.
Metro board considers lowering fares to lure riders when workers return to offices washingtonpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtonpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Photograph by kanzilyou via iStock.
In an effort to bring riders back to the rail service post-pandemic, Metro board members are considering temporarily lowering fares.
Board member Michael Goldman pushed the idea at a meeting on Thursday, proposing an elimination of the peak fare system where riders pay more for trips during rush hour. Instead, Goldman suggested instituting a flat fare across the day: $2 for rides in DC, $3 for rides within the Beltway, and $3.85 for trips outside of the Beltway. He proposed that the fare discounts kick off after Labor Day, in tandem with the likely of many workers to offices. The board’s vice chair, Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins, also recommended an elimination of the transfer fee, which charges riders extra for switching lines.
President Biden unveiled a large and ambitious new proposal to rebuild and improve the nation’s infrastructure last week that he has dubbed the “American Jobs Plan.”
And while the proposal has met with criticism from some progressives for being insufficiently bold – especially in tackling the global climate emergency – it is, by all accounts, an ambitious plan that would, if enacted, be the largest of its kind in U.S. history.
Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins of the nonprofit environmental advocacy organization NRDC described the plan this way in an April 2 statement:
The America Jobs Plan establishes a bold vision and new social contract for our nation’s long-term economic recovery. It tackles climate change, addresses past investment challenges, and makes a significant down payment for fixing our nation’s aging infrastructure.”