Capacity & Condition
Transit has a presence in every state and community across the nation, whether it’s heavy rail systems in New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, or Washington D.C.; light rail transit in Boston, Denver, or Minneapolis; bus rapid transit lines in Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Albuquerque; or bus networks and paratransit services that connect urban and rural communities across the country.
In total, there are about 6,800 organizations in the U.S. that provide transit services. In 2018, the Federal Transit Administration reported 2,207 transit systems received federal grant money, 928 of which were in urbanized areas and 1,279 in rural areas. Since the 1970s, transit has shown long-term growth in ridership, especially as networks have expanded beyond their traditional footholds. While the overall number of transit passenger trips has increased by 37% over the past 50 years, the total number of trips has decreased by 8% since its peak in 2014. The COVID-19 pandemic has only sharpened this decline, with the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) reporting at the beginning of the pandemic that stay-at-home orders caused some agencies to experience a 70% passenger decline.
Between 2017 and 2019, there was a slight decline in total ridership from 10.1 to 9.9 billion passenger trips. Over this period, bus ridership continues to be the most used form of public transit, averaging 4.7 billion passenger trips annually, followed by heavy rail at 3.8 billion, light rail at 524 million, commuter rail at 503 million, demand response at 207 million, and trolley bus at 81 million passenger trips annually.
Many transit systems have invested in expansion to improve access and service levels. Over the last two decades, 52 new systems and 124 extensions have opened, resulting in a total of 1,393 additional segment miles. In 2019, this expansion resulted in the nation’s transit system comprising over 240,000 route miles. Additionally, buses operate on over 226,000 miles of streets and roads. While most bus services operate in mixed traffic, service is also provided on 4,864 miles of exclusive and controlled right-of-way, of which 1,105 miles are exclusive fixed guideway, where only transit can operate, allowing for greater travel time reliability. Furthermore, commuter and hybrid railroads operate over a combined 9,227 miles, a 12% growth in miles over a 10-year period, while light rail/streetcars operate on 1,811 miles, a dramatic 30% increase over that same 10-year period.
It has been reported that 41.7% of U.S. households have only one vehicle or less and could benefit from transit options, and 45% of Americans have no access to transit. System growth has the potential to increase capacity, but it must be coupled with routine maintenance for the older parts of the system. Unfortunately, capital investments for a growing number of state-of-good-repair needs have not taken place. As a result, transit users face increased delays due to service interruptions, and agencies are grappling with growing maintenance and vehicle procurement costs. Under the most recent 10-year projections, spare vehicle costs are expected to grow to $770 million, while vehicle maintenance costs are likely to grow to $7.3 billion. These delays will cost passengers nearly $1.2 billion over the next 10 years.
Transit vehicles and physical infrastructure must both be in good condition for the system to perform to expected levels. Yet this critical relationship, in 2017 the Department of Transportation reported that over a 10-year period, 36.4% of facilities (bus and rail maintenance buildings and equipment/storage yards), 21.4% of systems (train control, electrification, communications, and revenue collection), 18.5% of vehicles, 6.4% of fixed guideway elements (tracks, tunnels, and bus guideways), and 5.5% of stations rated in “poor” condition. As a result, reliability challenges frequently plague our nation’s transit systems. Failure to address these systemic problems will likely cause more trip delays and travel time uncertainty, perpetuating ridership declines that result in reduced funding available for operation and maintenance.
Aging assets mean that state and local governments must increasingly fund transit system operations and maintenance work. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) recently reported that more than $19 billion was spent by state DOTs on transit systems, $11.5 billion was spent on operating costs $4.4 billion on capital, $3.1 billion on unrestricted, and $64.5 million was spent on planning.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions across all transit agencies. Nationally, transit ridership and fare revenues were down in April 2020 from April 2019 by 73% and 86%, respectively. As the pandemic drags on and continues to negatively impact ridership, this trend will continue to create difficult financial situations as agencies look to improve their transit infrastructure.
