Working from home is here to stay folks….
And that means less commuting…..
Less money for urban businesses….
And less ussage for capital intensive mass transit systems….
And?
That could mean HUGE increases in commuter fee’s….
And?
That could mean even LESS people taking jobs in intercity places….
And more empty office buildings lingering….
Several of the nation’s largest urban mass-transit systems are at a crossroads, with ridership still depressed three years into the pandemic and federal aid running out.
While offices have largely reopened and travel has resumed, many commuters are only coming in a few days a week. That shift has left subways, buses and commuter trains operating at well below capacity—particularly on Mondays and Fridays….
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The price of a New York City subway ride could rise to just over $3 in less than three years as transit leaders consider raising fares for the first time since before the pandemic began, presenting a potential hardship for those who rely most heavily on the depleted system.
Ridership has yet to return to its prepandemic levels, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the city’s subway and buses, has said it could face a budget gap of nearly $3 billion by 2025.
As authority officials draft a financial plan for the next four years, they have presented fare increases as one option for helping to offset the loss of riders. If the authority board approves such a move, the current $2.75 base fare could rise to $2.90 by next year and to $3.02 in 2025. Any fare changes would be preceded by public hearings and a board vote.
Kevin Willens, the authority’s chief financial officer, emphasized in an interview that no decision had been made about raising fares. “Clearly,” he said, “there can be discussion on what’s the right mix between fares and other new government support and so forth.”
The authority’s financial struggles are shared by mass transit systems across the United States and in Europe, which, like New York’s, have not recovered from ridership and revenue losses that have lingered far longer and more severely than had been expected….
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Many people have stayed away because of continuing fears over the coronavirus and a shift to remote work….