Ridership Recovery (Emerging Leaders Program)

The pandemic has revealed just how essential transit is to our communities and those who rely on it. Transit agencies have adapted and become more flexible as a result. Equity has been identified as a key metric for all decisions moving forward about how to allocate and provide service. Our project highlights the different strategies agencies have used to keep service going and build back ridership before and during COVID-19. Through a combination of questionnaires and interviews with transit agencies across North America, combined with existing resources such as white papers, case studies, etc., we will share how the industry can collectively work to transform public transportation into a more equitable resource that will retain existing riders while also attracting former and new riders.

Presenters:

• Laurie Brown, Maryland Transit Administration
• Tamara Davis, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
• Jerome Horne, TransitCenter
• Mehdi Taheri, Raul V. Bravo + Associates, Inc.