SUMMARY
Planning and Operations Initiatives to Support Nighttime Transit Ridership

The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 in the United States led to mass disruptions in movement and travel across the country. Health advisories required many to stay at home, nonessential businesses to shut down, and businesses to move their operations online if able, creating a major impact on the operations of every industry, including transit. In the subsequent months, varying levels of in-person activity existed between different regions, and ridership levels varied and recovered at differing rates depending on factors such as agency size, transit modes, and time of day. While overall ridership numbers declined, local bus systems experienced relatively higher recovery rates, particularly in areas with lower levels of car ownership. Additionally, some transit systems saw higher recovery rates during off-peak hours compared to peak hours. In major cities, peak period ridership in 2022 remained a fraction of 2019, while non-peak period ridership exhibited greater resilience and nearly recovered to pre-pandemic levels in many regions. In some areas, many residents continued hybrid work schedules indicate that peak ridership levels may not return to 2019 levels in the near future, flattening the ridership curve across a service day. As transit ridership levels during peak hours continue to lag pre-pandemic levels, changes in ridership trends point to a potential opportunity for transit agencies to develop more robust services outside of traditional peak service.

While many daytime workers have access to more flexible work locations, many nighttime workers are employed at jobs that must be done in person. Although the daytime economy continues to employ most workers, the nighttime economy has been experiencing growth since before the pandemic, with employment levels expected to recover and surpass 2019 levels. These projections and overall ridership trends present opportunities and challenges for agencies to enhance transit accessibility during non-traditional hours. Agencies have the opportunity to recapture ridership loss during peak hours and adapt to evolving travel patterns. However, nighttime services often pale in comparison to daytime service, creating challenges for many riders working late shifts and residing in areas with limited service coverage. This synthesis aims to examine how transit agencies plan and prioritize nighttime services to support nighttime travel demand and meet the transportation needs of late-shift workers.

To better understand current agency practices regarding nighttime transit, this synthesis includes a literature review, survey analysis, and case interviews conducted with five agencies. In the literature review, the study team examined academic literature, agency documents, industry publications, and government data sources to provide a multifaceted review of existing nighttime services. Next, a survey was created to ask agencies to describe nighttime priorities and planning practices within their organization, as well as to fill research gaps. After the analysis of survey results, five case agencies were selected from those that agreed to a follow-up case interview. Case agencies were selected to create diversity in geographic locations, size of nighttime services, service priorities, and best practices described in their

survey responses along five themes: safety, operational solutions, resources, ridership recovery, and partnerships.

This synthesis found several findings regarding nighttime transit service. First, surveyed agencies currently use a mix of fixed-route and flexible services, with the highest level of interest in microtransit as a means of nighttime service expansion. Transportation network company subsidies were not common among surveyed agencies but provide a pathway for smaller agencies to offer on-demand services without creating a microtransit service. Next, agencies aim to target their services toward major trip generators, such as groups with lower access to car ownership, including students and shift workers commuting to downtown, entertainment districts, and industrial areas. Interviewed agencies noted that general nightlife patrons are less of an agency priority. An additional finding was that the goals of nighttime service provision varied between interviewed agencies. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority cited the goal of coverage, while CapMetro planned nighttime service along the most productive segments, and Regional Transit Commission (RTC) Nevada planned nighttime service and daytime service along similar guidelines.

Along with research findings, two common challenges of nighttime service were identified. Resource limitations appear to be the largest challenge to expanding nighttime services, though many agencies were able to restore nighttime service to pre-pandemic offerings. However, resource limitations seem to impact agency resources across all times of day, as surveyed agencies stated financial and staff resource constraints are not worse at nighttime compared to daytime. In addition to resource limitations, maintaining safety for operators and passengers is of grave concern to agencies.

In response to the challenges agencies face with providing nighttime services, some best practices were also identified. Most surveyed agencies track safety features, including lighting at transit infrastructure and incidents that occur on transit vehicles. Partnerships with colleges and universities provide stable funding for agencies in areas with a significant student population and were more common than partnerships with other types of organizations. In response to restroom access concerns, two agencies built standalone restrooms to ensure that operators have access to restrooms during layovers at night when many businesses are closed.

While this synthesis aims to provide a deeper understanding of nighttime transit services, some areas were not fully examined. One topic with potential future research needs involves focusing on the experience of customers who use nighttime services. Related to this topic, further research can be done to understand the relationship between gender and nighttime services, especially focusing on the difference in perception of safety between genders and its effects on nighttime ridership. Additionally, further research can provide more insight into the provision of microtransit services at night. Finally, while this synthesis touches on this point, further research can examine nighttime service provision from the lens of operations and staff organization.