GAO: Most Systems Struggling to Recover Ridership Following the COVID-19 Pandemic

From July through December of last year, a majority of the nation’s 31 commuter rail systems were near or above pre-pandemic service levels, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released Wednesday. But GAO found that five systems remained more than 25% below those levels, and service was down up to 23.7% at seven other systems. Ridership, meanwhile, had recovered or nearly recovered to 2019 levels at six systems — but had not at the remaining 25.

GAO surveyed the systems and found that fare revenue had dropped 31% in fiscal 2023 compared to the year before the pandemic. To help offset this, systems reported increases in the percentage of their total funding coming from federal, local or other sources. At the same time, systems saw a jump in operating costs, with inflation being a key culprit.

Read the full report here.

CRC COMMENTS ON DOT’S RFI

This week the Commuter Rail Coalition submitted a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy asking that specific regulatory obligations be considered for modification or repeal. Two executive orders issued in January and February of this year call for deregulation throughout government, including in the Department of Transportation.

Several areas of potential overlap were highlighted and those are listed below. To read the full text of the submitted letter, please visit the CRC website.

• Requirement under Federal Grant Agreements for Duty to Bargain in Good Faith and Provide Transparency in Fees Charged

• Modernization of Legacy Regulations and Maintenance Requirements to Improve Passenger Rail Safety and Efficiency

• A Lack of Coordinated and Standardized Interpretations of ADA Requirements Impeding Investments in Improvements

• Overexpansion of Employee Certification Requirements

• Allow Compliant Environmental Reviews Required Under State/Local Law to Satisfy NEPA Requirements

• Eliminate Documentation Requirement for Categorical Exclusions

• Impediments to the Development of Advancement Technology and Improvements of Safety Based on Inefficient Execution of Locomotive Camera Requirements

• Repetitive and Misaligned Requirements for Railway Electronics

• Outdated and Incomplete Fire Safety Requirements

• Streamlined Testing Requirements

“The Commuter Rail Coalition believes that these issues impose significant costs on our members that are not outweighed by the benefits.” - KellyAnne Gallagher, CEO

• The president’s nominee for FRA administrator, David Fink, will have a confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee on May 13. The nominee is the former head of Pan Am Railways.

• The DOT has ended $54 million in grants to seven universities conducting transportation research that, in the administration’s view, advanced diversity, equity, inclusion, and a “green” agenda.

• DOT Secretary Sean Duffy has “confirmed that the department will conduct a mass layoff,” according to Politico. But the RIF won’t likely happen until late May after DOT has assessed the departures spurred by the two waves of deferred resignation.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Rash of Transit Funding Crises May Impact Members from Coast to Coast (SMART)

• Texas’ A-Train commuter line plans extension to connect to DART’s Silver Line (Trains.com)

• Bill that some warn will ‘kill DART’ advances in Texas statehouse (TransitTalent)

• South Shore Line: NICTD’s ‘The Little Railroad That Could’ Prospers and Grows (Railway Age)

• Northstar Phaseout Leaves Rail Riders with Uncertainties (Monticello Times)

• Deep cuts to bus and rail services loom across big cities, small towns (Stateline)

• Bill to slash Dallas-Fort Worth transit funding advances in Texas House (Trains)

• Metropolitan Council Seeks Public Feedback on Northstar Commuter Rail Transition to Bus Service in Coon Rapids and Fridley (Hoodline)