Does Ridership Matter Any More?

Yes it does!

Ridership, which has been a prominent transit KPI for decades, peaked in 2014 and started to decline, then fell sharply when the COVID pandemic hit.

After the pandemic, the question was asked: should we stop tracking ridership as a core KPI in favor of something more attainable?

Uncontrollable Factors Impact Ridership

The temptation to eliminate ridership as a KPI post-pandemic is understandable given the factors that impaired transit ridership such as the growth in remote work and on-line shopping, both of which reduced the need for travel. And now many agencies face financial challenges and service cuts. These factors cause some transit leaders to want to reset the goalposts to focus on KPIs that are more attainable. Beyond changes in travel patterns, multiple factors that influence transit ridership are beyond the control of the transit industry. For example, when gas prices are low, some riders choose to drive instead of taking transit, but there is little that transit agencies can do to influence gas prices.

A More Attainable Goal?

In many parts of the country, bolstering public perception of transit as an essential part of the community may feel more attainable than ridership growth. Less than 5% of Americans ride public transit regularly, yet 84% say they support and value public transportation in their communities. Transit is like schools, libraries, and parks. Most people in a community may not use these amenities every day, or at all—but they still value their presence. Transit gives people mobility, and mobility gives people a shot at life—whether it’s getting to a job, school, the library, or a doctor’s appointment. So, instead of ridership as the goal should we aim to bolster public perception of transit as an essential part of the community?

An Analogy

To help answer this question, consider the analogy of a restaurant owner confronted with a nearby fast-food franchise that starts selling premium burgers at 20% below the restaurant's price. The restaurant owner cannot control the low price offered by their competitor. Does that mean the restaurant owner should just surrender sales to the competitor and no longer track sales as a metric? Would the restaurant owner instead track community perception?

The answer is No. The restaurant owner needs sales to stay in business. Market forces will nudge them to find other ways to attract people to their restaurant, maybe with a new menu item or improvements to the customer experience. They can relocate to another area. They can train servers to go the extra mile to satisfy guests. They can launch a loyalty program. They can improve cleanliness. They can even change decor or lighting.

Likewise with transit. Even if trips disappear due to the work-from-home trend or if gas prices are low or if there are other uncontrollable factors like increases in homelessness in the area, transit can take steps to increase ridership. They can work with cities to establish transit priority lanes to reduce travel times or to provide alternate transportation for people experiencing homelessness. They can improve the experience of job applicants so they can hire enough drivers to keep service reliable. They can clean more buses at high volume layover points throughout the day. They can improve passenger information or launch new marketing campaigns.

And, in fact, many transit agencies are responding to the ridership challenge by focusing on the customer experience. From just a handful of North American transit agencies with Customer Experience programs prior to the pandemic, there are now over 60 agencies with these programs, spurred by ridership pressures. Rather than surrender the ridership battle, transit agencies are becoming more customer centric in a deliberate way, and the efforts are paying off (see rapid ridership recovery from 2022-2024 in the graph above).

Many agencies are also resetting ridership goals to focus on increases post pandemic rather than comparing to pre-pandemic ridership. Given the monumental change to travel patterns caused by the pandemic, that seems fair.

Ridership is Essential

For those who still have concerns about ridership as a KPI, the alternate goal to be seen as an essential part of the community is one of a number of more attainable goals and can be a worthy addition to a suite of measures. Ultimately, though, for transit to stay relevant and garner support, it has to deliver ridership.

Without robust ridership, will transit really be an essential part of the community? Will transit enhance access to jobs and schools? Will transit deliver on environmental goals and attract solo drivers to a more sustainable form of travel? How long will residents see transit in a positive light if ridership is declining?

Also, if ridership is lackluster, then efficiency measures like operating cost per passenger could become embarrassingly high. This can create an impression that transit is wasteful and inefficient, which can be a liability for transit agencies that need more public support and funding.

Fortunately, there is plenty of demand for transportation! Just look around you next time you're stuck in traffic. The need to get around is practically limitless, and transit currently carries only a tiny share. It just needs to deliver the right product to compete and the right promotion to get people to try it.

Summary

In summary, think about it: Businesses around the world are constantly impacted by forces beyond their control: recessions, inflation, supply chain issues, even natural disasters or military conflicts. While these factors are unavoidable, most businesses continue to do whatever they can to grow their customer base. They don't throw up their hands and declare defeat or discard sales as a metric. Instead they adjust their product or service, focus on the quality of the customer experience, and look for new market niches to grow their business.

This is not the time to surrender. It is the time to rethink our services to match changing travel needs, embrace CX, and transform ways of doing business to deliver a competitive product. Absent that, the transit industry is in jeopardy. CX and ridership are imperative.

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