If Your Commute Is a Nightmare, Blame Congress
US public transit agencies are on the brink of collapse in part because a federal law makes it harder for them to become more efficient.
The fares don’t cover the costs.
Photographer: Karen Bleier/AFP
America’s mass transit agencies are teetering on the brink of collapse. The money they got from Congress to help them through Covid-19 is running out, but ridership remains below what it was before the pandemic.
Lower fare revenue plus higher wage costs equals a bigger deficit. Unless state governments fill that gap, agencies will need to dramatically curtail service. Yet service levels are one of the primary determinants of ridership. Hence the increasing risk of a “death spiral,” where revenue shortfalls lead to service cutbacks, which lead to lower revenue, which lead to service cuts, and so on.