IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/trapol/v134y2023icp139-154.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Requiem for transit ridership? An examination of who abandoned, who will return, and who will ride more with mobility as a service

Author

Listed:
  • Soria, Jason
  • Edward, Deirdre
  • Stathopoulos, Amanda

Abstract

To adhere to health regulations and reduce the risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, employers, mobility operators, and travelers alike adopted new strategies such as teleworking, rigorous sanitation, and social distancing. In this research, we examine the individual-level factors contributing to transit ridership abandonment and return decisions. We utilize comprehensive survey-based data of transit users in the Chicago metropolitan area (N = 5648) collected prior to reopening. We investigate three ridership behaviors, namely (1) discontinued public transit ridership, (2) the intent to return to pre-pandemic transit ridership levels once health concerns are alleviated, and (3) the likelihood of using public transit more often if its fare systems are integrated with other mobility services such as ridehailing and micromobility. Examining the role of sociodemographics, employment characteristics, transit investment priorities, and travel behavior before and during the pandemic, this research reveals fine-grained details about transit usage decline, as well as future intentions. The results indicate that teleworking, unemployment, and vehicle access are the major factors behind discontinued transit ridership. Analysis of race, ethnicity, and gender effects reveals that vulnerable users often have a higher risk of abandonment coupled with a lower likelihood of returning. These results point to the need for transit agencies to consider the specific concerns of ethnic/racial minorities and women. Encouragingly, there is an opportunity for agencies to attract more ridership with fare integration. Several respondent segments would use transit more if fare systems are integrated with ridehailing and micromobility, highlighting the importance of lowering the barriers to accessing these mobility services. This research informs several policies that can be adopted by transit agencies and other mobility providers. We discuss the importance of an equitable return to transit, possibilities for Mobility-as-a-Service with fare integration as a starting point and stress the significance of teleworking in future transit policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Soria, Jason & Edward, Deirdre & Stathopoulos, Amanda, 2023. "Requiem for transit ridership? An examination of who abandoned, who will return, and who will ride more with mobility as a service," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 139-154.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:134:y:2023:i:c:p:139-154
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2023.02.016
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X23000471
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tranpol.2023.02.016?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tahlyan, Divyakant & Said, Maher & Mahmassani, Hani & Stathopoulos, Amanda & Walker, Joan & Shaheen, Susan, 2022. "For whom did telework not work during the Pandemic? understanding the factors impacting telework satisfaction in the US using a multiple indicator multiple cause (MIMIC) model," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 387-402.
    2. Konstantinos Gkiotsalitis & Oded Cats, 2021. "Public transport planning adaption under the COVID-19 pandemic crisis: literature review of research needs and directions," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 374-392, May.
    3. Yasenov, Vasil, 2020. "Who Can Work from Home?," IZA Discussion Papers 13197, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Zheng, Hongyu & Zhang, Kenan & Nie, Yu (Marco), 2021. "Plunge and rebound of a taxi market through COVID-19 lockdown: Lessons learned from Shenzhen, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 349-366.
    5. Meredith-Karam, Patrick & Kong, Hui & Wang, Shenhao & Zhao, Jinhua, 2021. "The relationship between ridehailing and public transit in Chicago: A comparison before and after COVID-19," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    6. Eisenmann, Christine & Nobis, Claudia & Kolarova, Viktoriya & Lenz, Barbara & Winkler, Christian, 2021. "Transport mode use during the COVID-19 lockdown period in Germany: The car became more important, public transport lost ground," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 60-67.
    7. Beck, Matthew J. & Hensher, David A., 2020. "Insights into the impact of COVID-19 on household travel and activities in Australia – The early days of easing restrictions," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 95-119.
    8. Matson, Grant & McElroy, Sean & Circella, Giovanni & Lee, Yongsung, 2021. "Telecommuting Rates During the Pandemic Differ by Job Type, Income, and Gender," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt5f46r97r, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    9. Dai, Jingchen & Liu, Zhiyong & Li, Ruimin, 2021. "Improving the subway attraction for the post-COVID-19 era: The role of fare-free public transport policy," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 21-30.
    10. Mokhtarian, Patricia L., 1991. "Telecommuting and Travel: State of the Practice, State of the Art," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt4zc486ph, University of California Transportation Center.
    11. Train,Kenneth E., 2009. "Discrete Choice Methods with Simulation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521766555, January.
    12. Luyu Liu & Harvey J Miller & Jonathan Scheff, 2020. "The impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on public transit demand in the United States," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-22, November.
    13. Erhardt, Gregory D. & Hoque, Jawad Mahmud & Goyal, Vedant & Berrebi, Simon & Brakewood, Candace & Watkins, Kari E., 2022. "Why has public transit ridership declined in the United States?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 68-87.
    14. Yasenov, Vasil, 2020. "Who Can Work from Home?," OSF Preprints 89k47, Center for Open Science.
    15. David A. Hensher, 2020. "What might Covid-19 mean for mobility as a service (MaaS)?," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(5), pages 551-556, July.
    16. Daniel McFadden, 1977. "Quantitative Methods for Analyzing Travel Behaviour of Individuals: Some Recent Developments," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 474, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    17. Ludivine Martin & Laetitia Hauret & Chantal Fuhrer, 2022. "Digitally transformed home office impacts on job satisfaction, job stress and job productivity. COVID-19 findings," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(3), pages 1-23, March.
    18. Parker, Madeleine E.G. & Li, Meiqing & Bouzaghrane, Mohamed Amine & Obeid, Hassan & Hayes, Drake & Frick, Karen Trapenberg & Rodríguez, Daniel A. & Sengupta, Raja & Walker, Joan & Chatman, Daniel G., 2021. "Public transit use in the United States in the era of COVID-19: Transit riders’ travel behavior in the COVID-19 impact and recovery period," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 53-62.
    19. Matthew Palm & Jeff Allen & Bochu Liu & Yixue Zhang & Michael Widener & Steven Farber, 2021. "Riders Who Avoided Public Transit During COVID-19," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 87(4), pages 455-469, October.
    20. Nayak, Suchismita & Pandit, Debapratim, 2021. "Potential of telecommuting for different employees in the Indian context beyond COVID-19 lockdown," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 98-110.
    21. Beck, Matthew J. & Hensher, David A., 2020. "Insights into the impact of COVID-19 on household travel and activities in Australia – The early days under restrictions," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 76-93.
    22. Thombre, Anurag & Agarwal, Amit, 2021. "A paradigm shift in urban mobility: Policy insights from travel before and after COVID-19 to seize the opportunity," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 335-353.
    23. Joachim Scheiner & Christian Holz-Rau, 2017. "Women’s complex daily lives: a gendered look at trip chaining and activity pattern entropy in Germany," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 117-138, January.
    24. Molloy, Joseph & Schatzmann, Thomas & Schoeman, Beaumont & Tchervenkov, Christopher & Hintermann, Beat & Axhausen, Kay W., 2021. "Observed impacts of the Covid-19 first wave on travel behaviour in Switzerland based on a large GPS panel," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 43-51.
    25. Rafiq, Rezwana & McNally, Michael G. & Sarwar Uddin, Yusuf & Ahmed, Tanjeeb, 2022. "Impact of working from home on activity-travel behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An aggregate structural analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 35-54.
    26. Xin, Mengwei & Shalaby, Amer & Feng, Shumin & Zhao, Hu, 2021. "Impacts of COVID-19 on urban rail transit ridership using the Synthetic Control Method," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 1-16.
    27. Beck, Matthew J. & Hensher, David A. & Wei, Edward, 2020. "Slowly coming out of COVID-19 restrictions in Australia: Implications for working from home and commuting trips by car and public transport," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    28. Ding Wang & Brian Yueshuai He & Jingqin Gao & Joseph Y. J. Chow & Kaan Ozbay & Shri Iyer, 2020. "Impact of COVID-19 behavioral inertia on reopening strategies for New York City Transit," Papers 2006.13368, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2021.
    29. Wang, Jueyu & Kaza, Nikhil & McDonald, Noreen C. & Khanal, Kshitiz, 2022. "Socio-economic disparities in activity-travel behavior adaptation during the COVID-19 pandemic in North Carolina," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 70-78.
    30. Das, Sanhita & Boruah, Alice & Banerjee, Arunabha & Raoniar, Rahul & Nama, Suresh & Maurya, Akhilesh Kumar, 2021. "Impact of COVID-19: A radical modal shift from public to private transport mode," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 1-11.
    31. Kamga, Camille & Eickemeyer, Penny, 2021. "Slowing the spread of COVID-19: Review of “Social distancing” interventions deployed by public transit in the United States and Canada," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 25-36.
    32. Rothengatter, Werner & Zhang, Junyi & Hayashi, Yoshitsugu & Nosach, Anastasiia & Wang, Kun & Oum, Tae Hoon, 2021. "Pandemic waves and the time after Covid-19 – Consequences for the transport sector," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 225-237.
    33. Jason Soria & Shelly Etzioni & Yoram Shiftan & Amanda Stathopoulos & Eran Ben-Elia, 2022. "Microtransit adoption in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from a choice experiment with transit and car commuters," Papers 2204.01974, arXiv.org.
    34. Amy Lubitow & Jennifer Rainer & Sasha Bassett, 2017. "Exclusion and vulnerability on public transit: experiences of transit dependent riders in Portland, Oregon," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(6), pages 924-937, November.
    35. Vickerman, Roger, 2021. "Will Covid-19 put the public back in public transport? A UK perspective," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 95-102.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bagdatli, Muhammed Emin Cihangir & Ipek, Fatima, 2022. "Transport mode preferences of university students in post-COVID-19 pandemic," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 20-32.
    2. Christidis, Panayotis & Navajas Cawood, Elena & Fiorello, Davide, 2022. "Challenges for urban transport policy after the Covid-19 pandemic: Main findings from a survey in 20 European cities," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 105-116.
    3. Ali El Zein & Adrien Beziat & Pascal Pochet & Olivier Klein & Stephanie Vincent, 2022. "What drives the changes in public transport use in the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic? Highlights from Lyon metropolitan area," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(S1), pages 122-141, November.
    4. Chen, Ruoyu & Zhang, Min & Zhou, Jiangping, 2023. "Jobs-housing relationships before and amid COVID-19: An excess-commuting approach," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    5. Riccardo Ceccato & Riccardo Rossi & Massimiliano Gastaldi, 2021. "Travel Demand Prediction during COVID-19 Pandemic: Educational and Working Trips at the University of Padova," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-20, June.
    6. Bwambale, Andrew & Uzondu, Chinebuli & Islam, Mohaimanul & Rahman, Farzana & Batool, Zahara & Isolo Mukwaya, Paul & Wadud, Zia, 2023. "Willingness to pay for COVID-19 mitigation measures in public transport and paratransit in low-income countries," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    7. Zhang, Junyi & Hayashi, Yoshitsugu, 2022. "Research frontier of COVID-19 and passenger transport: A focus on policymaking," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 78-88.
    8. Asmussen, Katherine E. & Mondal, Aupal & Bhat, Chandra R. & Pendyala, Ram M., 2023. "On modeling future workplace location decisions: An analysis of Texas employees," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    9. Jason Soria & Shelly Etzioni & Yoram Shiftan & Amanda Stathopoulos & Eran Ben-Elia, 2022. "Microtransit adoption in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from a choice experiment with transit and car commuters," Papers 2204.01974, arXiv.org.
    10. Ferreira, Sara & Amorim, Marco & Lobo, António & Kern, Mira & Fanderl, Nora & Couto, António, 2022. "Travel mode preferences among German commuters over the course of COVID-19 pandemic," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 55-64.
    11. Shuai Yu & Bin Li & Dongmei Liu, 2023. "Exploring the Public Health of Travel Behaviors in High-Speed Railway Environment during the COVID-19 Pandemic from the Perspective of Trip Chain: A Case Study of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Urban Agglomera," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-22, January.
    12. Pezoa, Raúl & Basso, Franco & Quilodrán, Paulina & Varas, Mauricio, 2023. "Estimation of trip purposes in public transport during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of Santiago, Chile," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    13. Nie, Qifan & Qian, Xinwu & Guo, Shuocheng & Jones, Steven & Doustmohammadi, Mehrnaz & Anderson, Michael D., 2022. "Impact of COVID-19 on paratransit operators and riders: A case study of central Alabama," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 48-67.
    14. Siliang Luan & Qingfang Yang & Zhongtai Jiang & Huxing Zhou & Fanyun Meng, 2022. "Analyzing Commute Mode Choice Using the LCNL Model in the Post-COVID-19 Era: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-26, April.
    15. Wang, Kaili & Liu, Yicong & Mashrur, Sk Md & Loa, Patrick & Habib, Khandker Nurul, 2021. "COVid-19 influenced households’ Interrupted Travel Schedules (COVHITS) survey: Lessons from the fall 2020 cycle," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 43-62.
    16. Wang, Chunan & Jiang, Changmin, 2022. "How do pandemics affect intercity air travel? Implications for traffic and environment," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 330-353.
    17. Mogaji, Emmanuel & Adekunle, Ibrahim & Aririguzoh, Stella & Oginni, Adeyemi, 2022. "Dealing with impact of COVID-19 on transportation in a developing country: Insights and policy recommendations," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 304-314.
    18. Balbontin, Camila & Hensher, David A. & Beck, Matthew J., 2022. "Advanced modelling of commuter choice model and work from home during COVID-19 restrictions in Australia," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    19. Li, Tao & Wang, Jiaoe & Huang, Jie & Yang, Wenyue & Chen, Zhuo, 2021. "Exploring the dynamic impacts of COVID-19 on intercity travel in China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    20. Basnak, Paul & Giesen, Ricardo & Muñoz, Juan Carlos, 2022. "Estimation of crowding factors for public transport during the COVID-19 pandemic in Santiago, Chile," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 140-156.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:134:y:2023:i:c:p:139-154. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30473/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.