{
  "id": "R45144",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R45144",
  "active": true,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 584211,
      "date": "2018-03-26",
      "retrieved": "2019-12-20T21:40:09.381915",
      "title": "Trends in Public Transportation Ridership: Implications for Federal Policy",
      "summary": "Despite significant investments in public transportation at the federal, state, and local levels, transit ridership has fallen in many of the top 50 transit markets. If strong gains in the New York area are excluded, ridership nationally declined by 7% over the past decade. This report examines the implications for federal transit policy of the current weakness and possible future changes in transit ridership. \nAlthough there has been a lot of research into the factors that explain transit ridership, there seems to be no comprehensive explanation for the recent decline. One complication is that national trends in public transportation ridership are not necessarily reflected at the local level; thus, different areas may have different reasons for growth or decline. But at the national level, the two factors that most affect public transportation ridership are competitive factors and the supply of transit service. Several competitive factors, notably the drop in the price of gasoline over the past few years and the growing popularity of bikeshare and ridesourcing services, appear to have adversely affected transit ridership. The amount of transit service supplied has generally grown over time, but average fares have risen faster than inflation, possibly deterring riders. \nThe future of public transportation ridership in the short to medium term is likely to depend on population growth; the public funding commitment to supplying transit; and factors that make driving more or less attractive, such as the price of parking, the extent of highway congestion, and the implementation of fuel taxes, tolls, and mileage-based user fees. Over the long term, ridership is also likely to depend on the introduction of autonomous vehicle technology, although its timing is uncertain. Fleets of driverless taxis that can be hailed with a smartphone, a plausible scenario, promise to be much cheaper than taxis and ridesourcing today. Widespread deployment of driverless taxis could reduce transit ridership, unless restrictions or fees make them an expensive alternative in some areas.\nTwo major federal transit policies related to these issues are the general funding of public transportation, distributed mainly by formula, and the discretionary funding of new large capital projects such as rail and bus rapid transit systems through the Capital Investment Grant (CIG) Program, also known as New Starts. One option to boost ridership without raising funding would be to tie federal formula funds to ridership or fare revenue. If the most consequential uncertainty for transit ridership is the introduction of autonomous vehicles, federal funding might focus on buses, which last about 10 years, and not new rail systems that last 30 years or more. Another option would be to redirect CIG funding from building new rail systems and lines to refurbishing rail transit in the large and dense cities where rail transit currently carries large numbers of riders. If fully autonomous ridesourcing vehicles become available, policymakers may face pressure to subsidize ridesourcing trips for disabled and elderly passengers alongside or in place of traditional transit and paratransit services.",
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      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4800,
          "name": "Public Transit & Passenger Rail"
        },
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4867,
          "name": "Transportation Funding"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Economic Policy",
    "Transportation Policy"
  ]
}