Before the COVID-19 pandemic, transit ridership in the United States was on the decline. While agencies put more services in place and populations increased, transit usage continued to decrease due to density, telework, gas prices, and other factors. TRB hosted a webinar on Tuesday, December 13, 2022 from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM Eastern that addressed the results of the recent TCRP Research Report 231: Recent Decline in Public Transportation Ridership: Analysis, Causes, and Responses. Presenters gave analysis of past trends, identified contributing factors, and provided actionable steps to combat ridership decline in post-pandemic travel.

This webinar was sponsored by TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program.

The slides are linked in the meeting materials. View the recorded webinar below.

Webinar agenda and presenters

• Possible reasons for declines in ridership – Kari Watkins, University of California, Davis
• Nationwide analysis of ridership declines – Greg Erhardt, University of Kentucky
• Agency strategies to mitigate ridership decline – Brendon Hemily, independent consultant
• Question and answer session moderated by Kari Watkins, University of California, Davis

The first 60 minutes of the webinar will be for presentations and the final 30 minutes will be reserved for audience questions.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Identify factors that lead to ridership declines pre-pandemic
• Implement strategies to combat ridership declines

Credit Information

There were no continuing education credits associated with this webinar.