Chicago Transit Authority makes it easy for people and businesses to set up a digital screen feed of transit information

Some places do this.  Some places did this but didn't keep the application updated.  Others implement it at least in transit stations and bus stops with real-time updated signage screens too.  But many people are still driven to create their own displays, because the local transit agency doesn't provide such an application.

Chicago Transit Authority does. (Brochures webpage.)  I argue these are forms of media developed by government agencies, but they often aren't thinking that way.  Event notices and other information can be delivered by similar systems.

This is a little ridiculous: 3 regional commuter train stations in 3 miles in Hammond, Indiana

A South Shore Line train enters the Hammond Gateway station in north Hammond, where passengers can transfer between the Lakeshore Corridor, the traditional east-west route, and the Monon Corridor, the long-awaited West Lake Corridor extending south to Dyer. Doug Ross photo, "Transit development districts already fulfilling promise to attract prosperity," Indiana Business Magazine.

I wrote recently about the extension of the South Shore Line to Hammond and Dyer ("South Shore Line Interurban extension in Indiana").  The South Shore Line is the last functioning interurban railroad in the US.  

It travels from South Bend (the airport, not downtown) to Chicago.  It has many trains each workday, 28 daily, and 28 total on weekends, but basically the ridership is abysmal: before the expansion post-covid it was fewer than 7,000 daily riders.   

Of course, if the Chicago Bears move to Hammond, that could perk up weekend ridership a lot.  Apparently Hammond is closer to a lot of Chicago than is the suburb of Arlington Heights, which the Bears are also considering.

Officials turn dirt at the ceremonial groundbreaking Thursday, April 16, 2026, for the new $10 million South Shore Line station to be built in downtown Hammond. (Doug Ross/for the Post-Tribune)

The Gary Post-Tribune reports, "Ground broken for new South Shore station to serve downtown Hammond," that the city is building a new downtown station for $10 million.

From the article:

“If we are serious about downtown Hammond, we have to have a station in downtown Hammond,” Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said. The station plays a key role in the city’s plans to revitalize the downtown.

“Not long ago, we stood together to celebrate the opening of the Monon Corridor, a transformational investment that expanded the South Shore Line and changed the trajectory of our region,” he said. “Today, we build on that momentum. Because this isn’t just another ribbon-cutting. This is proof that the investment is already delivering results.”

The new station will join two new stations that began service as a result of the $945 million Monon Corridor extension of South Shore Line service to Dyer. The Hammond Gateway station is a mile north of the new downtown station being built, and the Hammond South station is about two miles south.

Granted the downtown should always be served by a transit line, but this isn't a subway or streetcar, it's railroad.  So the number of added riders is likely to be minimal.  It's not like people are going to use the railroad passenger service to travel within Hammond.

Or perhaps they could consider closing one of the other stations.  Except they just built them.  Why didn't Downtown Hammond get a station from the start?

South Shore Line Interurban extension in Indiana

SSL en route in Michigan City on local surface streets.

This is notable because the South Shore Line, powered by electricity, is the only still functioning interurban train line in revenue service in the entire United States..  

As a mode, interurban was between heavy rail and train, with dedicated and mixed tracks and reasonably frequent cities operating within and between cities.  They carried passengers and local freight (not unlike todays package delivery services).

It was said transferring from one system to another you could get from Chicago to New England on interurbans.  Or from San Diego to Portland or Seattle.

Unlike heavy rail or railroad freight and passenger services, interurban lines could be street running within cities, like streetcars, and today's South Shore Line is distinguished in some places by still running on the street network in various communities along the line.  

Once owned by Samuel Insull, who owned many electricity generation and streetcar companies, like the CTA and London Underground, which he also controlled at one time, they were known for their poster marketing of sites on the line ("Moonlight in Duneland: Marketing the South Shore Line in the 1920s").

The DC area had such a system operating between Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis.

Today the South Shore Line operates between Downtown Chicago and South Bend, Indiana's Airport (originally the line went to downtown). Some trains go all the way from South Bend, while others start at either Michigan City or Gary. Like other similar services, for a time it had access to the Elevated track system of the Chicago Transit Authority.

These days it mostly serves Indiana, with 20 stations, and has a minute number of riders, less than 7,000 per day. But a goodly number of trains--26/27 go to or are from Chicago.

Starting today, the new "Monon Corridor" adds four stations with a terminus in Dyer, Indiana ("All Aboard! South Shore Line announces opening of new Monon Corridor expansion service," WSBT-TV).

But wow, what can they do to increase ridership? 

Certainly, an Indiana based Chicago Bears football team could generate some weekend ridership but only a few times per year.  

The South Bend Station no longer is in the center city, but on the outskirts.  While inconvenient, the location is probably not a deal breaker in terms of willingness to ride transit.  

What changes in marketing or otherwise would make a significant difference in ridership?

A homogeneous mobility system: cars and for medium and long distance trips, airplanes, doesn't work in crisis

Travelers waiting at a TSA checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Friday. Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg News

Trains.  An AP writer took the train from Atlanta to DC to avoid the chaos at Hartsfield Airport due to the federal shutdown of pay for TSA agents ("Midnight train from Georgia: A view of America from the tracks as airports struggle in the shutdown").  Most places don't have that option.

Planes.  The crush at Hartsfield is being played out similarly at airports across the country ("Why the TSA Lines in Atlanta Are Longer Than Other Airports," Wall Street Journal).

Plus there is the issue of the Iran War raising jet fuel prices ("As oil prices rise, airfares are surging and some airlines might not survive," Los Angeles Times) making fares higher, although trains face higher diesel fuel prices (and would do better if more lines were electrified).  From the article:

United Airlines Chief Executive Scott Kirby said this week that his company could face an $11-billion loss if oil prices remain at their current levels. Meanwhile, United’s airfare could increase by 20%, he said.

With thin profit margins and oil prices hovering around $100 per barrel, airlines have no choice but to pass the increased costs onto consumers.

It would make more sense to develop the passenger railroad system on medium distance trips focused on shifting trips from plane to train, such as DC to Philadelphia, or NYC or NYC to Boston, Dallas to Houston, etc., but the airlines advocate heavily against such a policy change.

Proposed High Speed Rail Network.

Many European countries have developed high speed rail networks in part to divert airplane trips to trains.  

Brightline Florida is a rail line from Miami to Orlando, targeting tourists.  According to the Mark Brown Substack "Car Free America," "Brightline Passenger Rail Is Booming While America Still Has No Real Alternative to $4 Gas and $400 Domestic Flights."

Automobiles.  The Iran War is why gas prices are up over 50% in the US.  A car-dependent economy has no real alternative but to keep driving.  Some cities have decent transit systems, and may experience a rise in ridership.  

Most metropolitan areas don't have the right form to make transit work very well, regardless of the cost of gasoline.

In response to the oil shocks of the 1970s, countries like Denmark and the Netherlands reshaped their mobility and land use policies to favor walking, biking, transit, and compact development, to reduce their dependence on automobility and fuels (gas or diesel) produced elsewhere.  Unlike the US, they didn't say biking and walking is good to do, and then didn't change policies much to make this policy in practice, they changed all kinds of laws, imposed high gasoline taxes, etc.

Mark Kauzlarich, Bloomberg.

The US did impose efficiency requirements on the car industry and some environmental efficiency measures to reduce energy use and under Carter reduced speed limits on Interstates to 55mph and created right turn on red rules (saving cars from having to idle).

But mostly, the US doubled down on gasoline-dependence, investing in the military around maintaining access to oil, and by creating the Strategic Reserve--the idea was to buy gas when it was cheap, and put it on the market in dire circumstances.

Ethanol.  The US also adopted ethanol requirements.  But they are a waste.  In the US, ethanol is made from freshly grown corn, using agricultural resources.  In Brazil, instead the feedstock is used cane sugar stalks, so they are reusing waste to make fuel, rather than expending more resources than what are gained back in energy density.  Ethanol doesn't save gas really, but it does help provide demand in agricultural states like Iowa, making them strong defenders of the process.

Ford and other automakers have spent years building up a supply chain to support their rollout of EVs. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Electric vehicles.  They are still cars, and an automobile-centric land use and transportation paradigm is a poor use of land and resources.  

But electric vehicles are an environmental strategy and tactic  Having an electric car insulates drivers from hiccups in the oil-gasoline supply chain that result in severe price increases ("What to Know About Electric Cars When Gas Prices Are Surging," New York Times).

Hill Family Bicycle Group with the US Capitol in the background

Bike, walk (and transit).  In the MinnPost ("Skip Starbucks to save gas? There are better strategies") Bill Lindeke suggests walking, biking or using transit as alternatives to high gas prices.  He writes from Minneapolis-St. Paul which has a decent light rail and bus system.  Most cities don't.

Heterogeneous mobility paradigm.  The difference between the US and Germany is that both manufacture cars, but of the two, only the US produces oil ("The Petro States of America," Bloomberg).  

That could be the reason that Germany has a much more heterogeneous mobility policy. 

It loves its cars--known for autobahns without speed limits--but recognizes cities are best served by transit, and most major cities have multiple modes well serving their communities.  

The German Transport Association model created in Hamburg is a model that US metropolitan areas should adopt ("The answer is: Create a single multi-state/regional multi-modal transit planning, management, and operations authority association," 2017, "Verkehrsverbund: The evolution and spread of fully integrated regional public transport in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland," International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, 2018) .

Barcode public art project.  A40 Autobahn/Freeway, Ruhrgebeit-Essen, Germany

For the past few years, for sustainability and climate change reasons, it's sponsored a national transit pass ("The Deutschland-Ticket for just 63 euros per month," DB).

Germany also promotes walking and biking (the Federal Bike Plan in its various iterations always turns out to be good).  

Why Disneyland should be taxed more: Anaheim Transportation Network to shut down because of ongoing deficits

Bus riders take Anaheim Regional Transportation (ART) buses shuttles from the Toy Story parking lot to the Disneyland Resort on Thursday, January 29, 2026, in Anaheim, CA. The Anaheim Transportation Network’s board voted Wed. Jan. 28 to “wind down” operations, with the last day of shuttling planned for March 31. The bus system moves 8 million riders a year around the resort area. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The bus service in Anaheim, Anaheim Transportation Network, transports people between major destinations in the city including Disneyland and the Convention Center.  It has about 22,000 riders per day, 8 million per year.  It also provides an electric shuttle called FRAN--free rides around the neighborhood--and EVE, a van shuttle to and from John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana.

Your ride to Disneyland.  Not anymore.  A sign marks a stop at Great Wolf Lodge for an ART bus, Anaheim Resort Transportation, in Anaheim, CA on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

It has been funded by fares and other revenues, with a persistent deficit covered by the cities tourism special district, which collects taxes on hotel stays.

That's not enough, and the service is shutting down ("With a shut-down deadline looming, Anaheim Transportation Network has buses and property to disperse," Orange County Register).  

City punts.  Elected officials lack vision, sound familiar?*  Last year, faced with the possibility of the system shutting down, the city figured it wasn't important enough to come up with other funding to maintain the service ("Anaheim looks at takeover of resort bus system that’s facing budget challenges," OCR).

The city of Anaheim last year considered taking over the struggling transportation network, in hopes of solving the agency’s financial troubles without asking hoteliers to pay more. But officials said earlier this year the city was no longer interested in the move.

... “We know there’s a need for a service,” Lyster said. “We want to do a study to look at whether there could be an advantage to putting this under the city umbrella that might make it cost-effective.”

... More than 70% of the transportation provider’s operating costs go toward labor, Kotler said. Fare increases would likely lower the number of people who choose to use the buses since the service is competing on cost with rideshare services and families who might choose to park at the resort. ATN charges $4 for a one-way fare and less for children and seniors.

“We believe that if fares were to increase, we would lose a large percentage of our passenger market to the rideshare companies,” Kotler said. “So, we have to be very careful about how we approach the fare policy … We feel that the fares need to stay at the current level.”

* DC just shut down its streetcar ("Eight big-picture lessons from the DC Streetcar," "How DC’s mayor and council chair thwarted every effort to better the streetcar," GGW). 

DisneyForward is not Transit Forward.  Disney has a huge expansion program underway, called DisneyForward, and they weren't required to include transportation demand management planning as an element of the project ("Disneyland doesn't have transportation demand management planning requirements," 2023).

One of ATN’s major routes is a line from a Disney parking lot to the theme parks’ gates.

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When the magic fades.

Transportation Demand Management Plans for Amusement Parks.  Not dissimilarly, Disney World in Orlando shut down the branded Disney Express bus service from Orlando Airport and other locations.  In part they said this was because of the increased use of ride hailing services like Uber and Lyft.

Amusement parks/resorts, like stadiums, arenas and casinos ought to be required to have transportation demand management plans and fund transit as part of their operation .  Of course, in Florida, Disney's land district is legally separate from the counties there.  

Nonetheless, as a local government, it should be required to participate in a German style transport association, bringing together area jurisdictions and transit operations to plan and deliver transit in an integrated fashion.

-- "The answer is: Create a single multi-state/regional multi-modal transit planning, management, and operations authority association," 2017
-- "Verkehrsverbund: The evolution and spread of fully integrated regional public transport in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland," International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, 2018

Orange County Transportation Authority does a lot of things--runs Metrolink, toll roads, cross-jurisdictional buses (at least one line makes it to CSU Long Beach), paratransit, and a fare media card usable on its buses and some of the city bus systems.  

It also provides some funds at least to some jurisdictions for intra-city transportation, like in Laguna Beach, through Measure M, a county wide sales tax for transportation--not just transit--projects.  They did pay for some things for Anaheim, I am not sure for buses.  The justification for transit funding is primarily congestion management.

Washington DC area railroad commuting schedules: July 1972

 A two page newsletter from the Maryland organization, Rail Ways of America, promoting passenger railroad service, with a focus on commuting.  Probably the organization ended up becoming Rail Passengers Maryland, affiliated with the National Association of Rail Passengers.

Commuting services existed from West Virginia to DC and between Baltimore and Washington.  Non-commuting rail service did connect Richmond and Charlottesville to DC.  The association called on Northern Virginia to advocate for commuter service, to not give into "automobile masochism."

About 20 years later, the Virginia Railway Express launched service on June 22nd, 1992.

-- History of commuter rail in Northern Virginia, 1964-present, VRE

10 good things about Metro Transit (Minneapolis) — including one that’s simply priceless

Article 

Chances are if you’re reading about Metro Transit in the Minnesota Star Tribune, it’s because something bad happened. The system’s been plagued by high crime, low ridership, rampant fare evasion and an ever-ballooning billion-dollar budget. But there are good things to be said about the buses and trains, and at the risk of looking for lutefisk at a taco truck, I went out to find them.

My goal was to find 10 such positives — and who would know better than those who regularly ride the system? To my surprise, riders unhesitatingly offered them to me when I asked around one day last week. Here are their responses

1. Help is never far away
2. It's sometimes faster than a car
3. It goes to all the right places and you can track it

Target Field Station.

4.  It's clean and warm

5.  It's clean and there's usually someplace to sit (bus shelter improvements)

6.  Bikes are welcome (bike + Transit a good combo)

7.  Some buses run faster than trains

8.  It runs frequently enough

9.  It gets us everywhere we need to go

10. It's Cheaper than owning a car

Posters as an element of marketing transit stations and neighborhoods

I can't say I've thought about this much.  I do think about it terms of parks, and using National Park Service style posters with a design language created in the 1930s.

Original poster design, 1938.

Modern version.  Poster not produced by the National Park Service.

A Reddit user, u/Coup-de-Cous, in Los Angeles has produced similar designs for LA Metro stations and neighborhoods.

Now that I think about it, they are reminiscent of the transit marketing posters produced by railroads, and for transit specifically, the London Underground ("Birth of the London Underground Posters," Art Institute of Chicago, "Frank Pick: the forgotten genius of the London Underground," Gallery, Telegraph, "The Hidden Women Behind London’s Beloved Modernist Transit Posters," Bloomberg), and Chicago Transit.

London Underground Poster.

Modern CTA poster promoting rehabilitation of Wilson Station.  

Making these kinds of posters could be a way to engender goodwill for transit infrastructure projects.

Non CTA poster, done in the 1930s National Park style.

Promoting the Lincoln Square neighborhood.

This series of posters by the Chicago Neighborhoods Project

 is comparable to those by u/Coup-de-Cous for Los Angeles.

Art deco style railroad poster.

DC Metrorail transit ridership by station, daily boardings

WMATA and other transit agencies make data available about ridership for rail systems and bus lines.  

It would be easy for them to also produce it as a matter of course like in the graphic below.  

Similarly, such data could be presented by bus stop for bus lines.

Having such data easily presented makes it a lot easier to have discussions about transit stations and bus stops, whether or not bus stops could be cut in order to speed service, and what stations to invest in to improve user experience and increase ridership.

Suburban Virginia's Silver Line Metrorail after 10 years

There's a piece in GGW, "How the Silver Line has shaped transit-oriented development in Northern Virginia," about the impact of the Silver Line on transit oriented development in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties.

The author points out development has occurred in Tysons and Reston, but less so in other areas.  

That shouldn't be surprising.  The Silver Line is very much a polycentric extension of the system, and the stations are very spread out.  

Blots of development along the line are unlikely because residents don't want to live in pods, and the distance to the core is so significant--for example the Loudoun Gateway station is about 30 miles from DC.

Plus, the supra block nature of suburban development--massive sites, massive buildings--makes the walkability element of a benefit from transit development somewhat remote.

Herndon station.

It reminds me of my 2011 piece, making the point that developers wanted that transit line in order to keep their properties relevant in the 21st century development and land use paradigm ("Short term vs. long term thinking: transit, the Washington Examiner, Fairfax/Loudoun Counties vs. DC").

And that like with DC proper, it would take 20-40 years to fully reap the impact, which Bisnow didn't take into consideration ("Much Was Planned, But Little Is Built As Final Piece Of Metro's Silver Line Approaches Its Debut" Bisnow).  

Related posts over the years include:

-- "Silver line reshaping commercial office market in Fairfax County," 2015
-- "Tysons (Corner) 10 Years after the plan to make it more walkable: the necessity of implementation mechanisms," 2020
-- "Brief follow up to intra-district transit proposal for Tysons: Toyama City Compact City initiative (Japan)," 2020
-- "A thought about an intra-district transit network for Tysons," 2020

And ideally some lessons:

-- "Metro sees the opportunity to continue the Silver Line into DC (the former separated blue line proposal)," 2011
-- "Tysons, White Flint and the continued "maturation" of the suburbs," 2013
-- "Ultimately, WMATA blue line riders have been dissed by the State of Virginia, not WMATA...," 2013
-- "Transit, stations, and placemaking: stations as entrypoints into neighborhoods," 2013
-- "Silver Line delays: maybe the real lesson is that contracting out construction to the private sector doesn't always work so well," 2014
-- "The Silver Line WMATA story that WJLA-TV missed," 2014
-- "Using the Silver Line as the priming event, what would a transit network improvement program look like for NoVA?," 2017
-- "To and from origin stations can be difficult: More on the Silver Line and intra-neighborhood transit (tertiary network)," 2022
-- "Transit oriented development station typology revisited," 2024

One where I was wrong, opining that not tunneling the Silver Line in the Tysons area was a big mistake.  

Now, I don't think it matters, given the scale of the super blocks there, above-ground transit isn't the issue.  

The size of the blocks and distance between stations is the issue.  That's the reason for the proposal of an above-ground tram..

-- "Blinking on urban design means you limit your chance for success," 2006

The Trump Administration as transit troll

I have been reading a bunch of books about the genesis of Broken Windows policing theory as implemented in New York City.  Jack Maple (The Crime Fighter: Putting the Bad Guys Out of Business) makes the point that regardless of the success of crime suppression programs, there will always be high profile incidents.

These incidents support the perception of crime ridden streets and the need to be fearful, even when the counter case is so strong.

This comes up because a couple weeks ago, after a killing on the Charlotte, NC light rail system ("Deadly stabbing on Charlotte train highlights America's transit safety challenges," ABC11), the Trump Administration used this event as an excuse to suggest defunding transit ("Trump Admin Issues New Threat After Charlotte Train Killing," Newsweek).

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, “Safety needs to be the top priority of elected officials. Citizens don’t want federal dollars going to public transportation that local leaders refuse to keep safe!”

-- "Trump Admin To Redirect $2.4 Billion From California's High-Speed Rail Project To National Rail Program," Benzinga 
-- "How the Trump administration is targeting green transportation in blue states," Grist
-- "Trump Grant Program Pours Money Into Roads, Mostly Ignores Transit Projects," Streetsblog USA
-- "Trump administration threatens to pull New York transit funds as it questions anti-crime efforts," AP
-- "Everyone to Congress: Stand Up and Fight for the Infrastructure Funding You Allocated (And Your Constituents Need)," Streetsblog USA
-- "Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration’s new transit and homelessness grant conditions," AP

The fact is, transit is safer than driving ("We Need a Reality Check on Crime, Safety and Transit," "New York City’s Subway Is Actually Safer Than Your Car," Bloomberg).  

An article in the Washington Post, "845,000 dead on U.S. highways. Why not address the main cause?," makes the point that almost 40,000 people die each year from motor vehicle accidents, while many more are injured, some severely.  From the article:

Approximately 94 percent of car crashes involve some form of driver behavior like speeding, distraction, failing to yield or DUI identified as a contributing factor, although this doesn’t mean the driver is always solely responsible — bad roads, confusing or obscured signage, wildlife darting into the road, mechanical failures and other factors play their part, too.

Why aren't there calls to stop producing automobiles, close down roads and make everyone walk?  Also see the Detroit News article, "Efforts to lower pedestrian fatalities in Pontiac 'made an impact,' sheriff says":

Sheriff Mike Bouchard on Sept. 5 ordered a patrol increase in "hot spots" for these types of collisions in Pontiac. His order was in response to a string of seven hit-and-run crashes that caused serious injury or death in the city this year.

Over the following two weeks, sheriff's deputies issued 78 warnings to people crossing streets in designated no-crossing zones and issued 116 citations for violations including speeding and texting while driving. The sheriff's office crash reconstruction unit also had no calls in Pontiac in that time, according to a news release.

"Our traffic unit did a great job stepping up enforcement in areas with multiple pedestrian accidents,” Bouchard said. “Their focus on both pedestrian and driver behavior clearly made an impact.”

Similarly, many opponents to bicycle trails say it will increase crime.  It's true, it does at the margins, because increasing access to places leads to some criminal activity.  

But the use of cars in the commission of crimes on a daily basis is more than the use of bikes--although some intrepid criminals realize the value of bike access to committing crime.  From the Post:

In one of the five reported robberies, police said six juveniles on red Capital Bikeshare bicycles carried out a holdup early Sunday in the 1100 block of Third Street SW. One of the youths had a gun, police said.

just as police departments realize bike-based cops can go places cars cannot ("The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of Bicycle Police"), similarly with bike-based EMS crews for special events ("How to start a bike medic team," EMS1).  

Plus cars problem double as they are often "the victims" of crime (Preventing Car Crimes, Urban Institute).

Los Angeles Union Station Train Festival: September 20-21

In the 2000s Amtrak used to sponsor a Trains Day at some of their stations.  It was held in May, because that is the anniversary of the Golden Spike Celebration, commemorating the creation in 1869 of a transcontinental railroad system.

Amtrak stopped doing it, for budget reasons.

I've written a few blog entries suggesting that the US have a National Trains Month in May, which could include passenger and freight railroads, and not just Amtrak but regional commuter rail systems also.

-- "Modern railroad tourism promotion," 2018
-- "May should be National Train Month as a way to market and promote passenger rail," 2021
-- "Two train/regional transit ideas: Part 2 | Running tourist trains from Union Station," 2021

-- "May should be National Train Month: Rethinking promoting more comprehensively travel by train in the US," 2022

A number of railroad museums and transit agencies do hold similar kinds of events, not in May, and not coordinated into a national calendar.

Union Station in Los Angeles holds one such event, involving Amtrak, the regional Metrolink commuter rail service, and the LA Metro transit system.

-- Union Station Train Festival

(Similarly, I suggested DC's Union Station could be a focal point for rail transit promotion and marketing, in my submission on the DC State Rail Plan.)

LA's Union Station is pretty amazing, Spanish style colonial architecture on the outside, amazing art deco on the inside.

Transit death spiral starts with Philadelphia

Most major transit systems are experiencing funding difficulties because of how post-covid work from home (WFH) has affected transit system business models.  

-- "Three ideas to save S.F. Muni that have nothing to do with cutting service," "‘There is a real problem’: Bay Area legislators seek to prevent BART and Muni from unraveling," San Francisco Chronicle, "A Last-Ditch Effort to Fund Bay Area Transit Tries to Pick Up Support," KQED/NPR

-- "Chicago ain’t ready for transit reform — yet," Crain's Chicago Business, "llinois lawmakers call for special session to address $771M public transit shortfall," ABC7

-- "As WMATA’s new budget goes into effect, future funding woes remain," Greater Greater Washington

Formerly, there was lots of ridership during M-F community periods, with some ridership at night and on weekends.  Now there are fewer riders, which significantly reduces farebox revenues.  For bus-based systems fares aren't that significant a funding source.  They are for rail.

Poster by Joseph Binder, c. 1950s.

Chicago Transit Authority, Avoid Street Congestion poster by Arthur A. Johnson, 1926.

MBTA Commuter Magazine 1971: Welcome to the T Party

Philadelphia's transit system, SEPTA, is the closest to the brink.  Effective yesterday, they started cutting service ("Phillies fans slowed but not deterred by SEPTA service cuts," Philadelphia Inquirer).  From the article:

Ryerson noted the critical — but sometimes overlooked — role that public transportation plays in everyday life.

“If you really think about how you’ve made some big choices — where you live, where your children go to school, where you work, even the frequency at which you go to a Phillies game — all of these choices are shaped around your income, the makeup of your family, and your transportation accessibility,” she said.

The elimination of certain bus routes might force some parents to rethink where their children attend school, Ryerson said, while teenagers could lose a pillar of their independence. Transit cuts can also lead to an increase in people skipping health screenings and vaccinations. “There’s a huge negative impact on public health from not providing that connectivity,” Ryerson said.

The Pennsylvania Legislature is pretty evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, and the Republicans in the Senate aren't interested in long term funding or stability, and have proposed some short term fixes, which the Democrats do not support.  So the state hasn't passed a budget, and SEPTA has started cutting service, as it first proposed during initial budget discussions.

-- "Philadelphia transit hits ‘death spiral.’ More cities could follow," Washington Post

SEPTA officials have called it a “death spiral.” The changes to one of the nation’s largest mass transit agencies are expected to hit the poor, elderly and daily commuters the hardest. Many will have to start their commutes earlier and arrive home later.

They have warned of “fiscal cliffs” in which transit systems start cutting services, potentially reducing ridership in ways that necessitates even deeper service cuts. Transit agencies in Chicago, Dallas, Portland and San Francisco all face similar challenges.

SEPTA, which serves about 800,000 riders daily, will curtail service on all bus and rail lines by 20 percent as well as eliminate 32 bus routes on Sunday. The changes are expected to make buses and trains slower and more crowded as well as present new complications for 55,000 Philadelphia students who start school on Monday.

But since the pandemic slashed ridership for big city transit systems, officials and transit experts have been raising questions about the sustainability of public transportation that millions of Americans rely on each day.

The cuts this month are just a preview of even more painful reductions in January unless Pennsylvania’s legislature acts soon to help SEPTA close a $231 million budget shortfall. The transit agency will raise fares by about 22 percent on Sept. 1, and reduce service by another 25 percent in January. It will also eliminate five commuter rail lines that service the suburbs as well as Delaware and New Jersey.

-- "SEPTA’s massive cuts are here and it’s ‘bad on so many levels’," Philadelphia Inquirer

SEPTA is cutting 20% of its service; 32 bus lines will be eliminated, including series 400 routes that serve schools, and 16 other routes will be shortened. Buses, trolleys, and subways will reduce the number of trips offered, lengthening waits for riders.

On Sept. 2, Regional Rail service will be reduced. That could mean up to two hours between trains in the midday hours during the week and on weekends.

I never did write a blog entry about how I was impressed with the graphic renditions of what the service cuts would mean.  And an infographic they produced on the economic value of transit in Philadelphia to the region and state.  

Unfortunately, conservatives tend to be anti-public good, anti-transit, and anti-public investment.  They have a hard time thinking about transit as a product and as an economic development tool, or that Philadelphia's economy is important to the rest of the state.

Usually a crisis gets people to finally act, but that hasn't been the case in Pennsylvania.

Chicago's transit system has the same problem, but transfers from other regional transit services have staved off the kinds of cuts that are starting in Philadelphia. ("CTA gets $74M from Metra, Pace to delay 40% service cuts next year," Chicago Sun-Times).

Since the Trump Administration is anti-transit, federal funds aren't something that agencies can try to get to deal with the "fiscal cliff."  Transit is an essential foundation of success for large legacy cities, which could not support the number of people and trips by relying on the automobile.

======

Never stop building your transit funding sources, it's easier when you are successful, and very hard when you are failing.

This article, "Key Oregon Democrats signal support for public transit, climate-friendly transportation framework." (Portland Oregonian) reminds me of past writings about setting up for success in case of potential failure, using the example of the Rochester NY bus system, which before the Great Financial Crisis, had already established relationships with local institutions, which paid toward transit provision ("Creativity Helps Rochester’s Transit System Turn a Profit," New York Times).  So when tax revenues dropped, they had access to other sources.

And the point I make about transit systems, and DC in particular, that the best time to solidify funding agreements are when you are wildly successful.  For DC that was within the first 10 years of the launch of Metrorail in 1976 ("WMATA and MWCOG announce new joint transit initiative | Could a regional "transport association" be on the horizon, or just a transit bailout?," 2024, "WMATA Chief says it’s time to talk about a regional tax to help fund Metro (DC area)," 2023).

From the Oregonian:

A group of Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday unveiled a high-level concept for a transportation package that would significantly boost funding for public transit and climate-friendly pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.

To pay for those needs while also funding basic road and bridge maintenance, Democrats proposed gradually increasing the state’s gas tax from 40 cents to 80 cents per gallon, increasing car registration and title fees, implementing a 2% sales tax on new vehicles and increasing the state’s payroll tax for transit fivefold to 0.5%.

It’s unclear how many of those suggestions will ultimately end up in a transportation package that lawmakers are hoping to pass this legislative session, which must end by late June. But a significant number of Democrats, about 17, have expressed support for the transit and climate related provisions, including three members of the key Joint Transportation Committee.

The basic ideas underlying the new proposal are similar to a more comprehensive transportation funding framework that the Democratic leaders of the Joint Transportation Committee put forward in April. That framework suggested more than 10 tax and fee increases to better maintain Oregon’s roads and bridges as well as shore up funding to public transit, rail and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. Those tax hikes included a 20 cent increase to the gas tax and a 1% tax on new vehicle purchases.

Note that the past blog entry, "Metrolinx Toronto: 25 potential tools to fund transit-transportation infrastructure," (2013) lists many different funding sources for transit, based on a study for Greater Toronto's Metrolinx regional transportation authority.  I've since added a few in the comments, although the overall entry hasn't been updated.  (I haven't compared the ones suggested in the proposed Oregon framework against this list.)

Ride Public Transit For Free: San Francisco Bay, on All Aboard Bay Area Transit Day (May 6)

This is marketed with too short a time frame, but transit agencies should schedule a couple free transit days each year as a way to introduce people to and market the hell out of transit.  Such days can be used to launch coordinated improvements as well.

From the website:

Bay Area transit agencies in partnership with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Bay Area Air District are encouraging residents to ride transit on Tuesday, May 6, for All Aboard Bay Area Transit Day, coinciding with the start of Spare the Air summer smog season. 

All Aboard Transit Day encourages people to get out and ride transit – or perhaps try it for the first time – as more people return to the office and as transit ridership grows. On May 6, transit agencies will offer free stickers and other swag items to riders throughout the day to thank them for riding, while also soliciting their feedback.

Impact of proposed transit cuts at SEPTA/Philadelphia presented in graphically compelling ways

With WFH and the ending of special grant programs from the Biden Administration ("Public transit agencies eye service cuts as pandemic aid runs out," Marketplace/NPR), coupled with the Trump Administration's pro-car bias, virtually every transit agency is facing financial exigency in future  budget cycles ("Metra, CTA and Pace warn of possible 40% service cuts starting in 2027," NBC Chicago, "What to know about possible PRT cuts and how to make your voice heard," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) , often with pleas like in Philadelphia ("No more excuses — Harrisburg Republicans must find a way to fully fund SEPTA," Philadelphia Inquirer) and the SF Bay, for state bailouts.

Process for considering transit service cuts in Pittsburgh

WFH has totally messed up transit agency budgets, shifting the most use from morning and evening commute to primary business districts, to use spread out during the day, across the system, further increasing costs alongside revenue decreases.  DC for example has lost about 250,000 train riders from pre-covid highs.

The Reddit Philadelphia has included entries on what budget cuts would to do to SEPTA's, the regional transit agency for Philadelphia, service network, and I thought they've had some good graphics to illustrate the changes.

-- SEPTA budget cut fact sheet

  Proposed cuts to the current rail system ("SEPTA prepares for major service cuts," Trains Magazine).

Current ail transit system

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission ("Regional planners calculated the impact on traffic if SEPTA cuts happen. It’s really bad," Inquirer) did a study of the impact the proposed cuts will have on motor vehicle traffic congestion.

From the article:

SEPTA is facing a $213 million annual structural deficit due in part to pandemic-related ridership reductions and inflationary pressure on labor and materials costs. (Fare evasion doesn’t help matters, costing from $30 million to $68 million yearly, according to SEPTA projections.)

The transit agency released a $1.65 million operating budget on April 10 that included a doomsday scenario of service cuts, along with an average fare increase of 21.5% across the board. In all, up to 55 bus routes would be eliminated, five Regional Rail lines shut down, and 66 stations closed. Other routes and lines would see reduced frequency of buses and trains.

At least one of the SEPTA trolley routes serve the suburbs.  This is in Media, Pennsylvania. 

Flickr photo by James Scales. 

Those cuts would occur in two phases, this fall and on Jan. 1, without new state subsidies, the transit agency says. If the full menu were enacted, all rail services would stop at 9 p.m. across the SEPTA network early next year.

From the standpoint of "those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it, some Pennsylvania Republicans are recommending privatization ("Idea to privatize SEPTA floats around the State House amid funding crisis," Fox29).  The proposal focuses on bus services, not the entire system.

There's a reason that with few exceptions, privately run transit systems were acquired by local and state governments to maintain service.  They were unprofitable from a fare standpoint, especially in that many of the "spillover benefits" of transit aren't captured by the transit operator.

Note that plenty of public transit agencies outsource operations of some or all of their transit services to the private sector.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  Since the operator isn't responsible for investments in transit infrastructure, that's often skipped over.  Privatization is no panacea.

Impact on property values.  Another report ("SEPTA cuts could lead to drop in property values around Regional Rail lines," WHYY/NPR, Economic Impact Analysis: SEPTA Service Cut Proposal Due to Lack of Funding) points out that property values will drop in areas that get less service at a cost of .  This is another example of a "spillover benefit," improved property values, just one of multiple positive economic development impacts not being captured by a transit agency.

Impact on special event population.  SEPTA promotes transit service to sports events like Eagle football games and concerts ("Taylor Swift's Eras Tour helps boost Philadelphia's economy," ABC6).  Philadelphia will host ceremonies commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and World Cup soccer.  

Severe cuts to transit will significantly impact the ability of visitors to move around the city ("Philly mostly ready for 2026 … except for that little SEPTA problem," WHYY/NPR).

Streetcar service to ATT Park in San Francisco. SF Chronicle photo.

Impact of graphic design in government communications.  Note that the presentation of these issues with great graphics is an illustration of the power of good graphic design and the use of the design method by government agencies.

-- "All the talk of e-government, digital government, and open source government is really about employing the design method," (2012)
-- "PL #7: Using the Purple Line to rebrand Montgomery and Prince George's Counties as Design Forward," (2017)
-- "Design as city branding: transit edition," (2012)
-- "City (and university) branding: brand deposits; brand withdrawals; brand destruction," (2012)
-- "Georgetown: A subtle but important difference between branding and identity-positioning," (2010)
-- "Identity ≠ branding or Authenticity is the basis of identity," (2007)
-- "The taxi livery debacle as a lead in to a broader discussion of the importance of "design" to DC's "brand promise," (2012)
-- "Illustration of government and design thinking: Boston's City Hall to Go truck," (2013)
-- "(DC) Neighborhoods and commercial districts as brands," (2012)