Quote:
Originally Posted by C.
I'm not sure I accept the premise that the reason transit ridership is down is because the economy is booming and more people can afford a car.
Also, everyone I knew in NYC that commuted by car was broke. All the good paying jobs are accessible by subway. Uber/taxi is also a fraction of the cost of parking in lower Manhattan.
I think working from home and telecommuting is an interesting theory which may explain part of the reason why transit ridership is down. If everyone did it one day a week, that would be a massive drop in ridership.
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I think you're kinda playing into my point here. "Everyone I knew in NYC that commuted by car was broke." I just said the ridership declines have been driven by increased car ownership among lower income workers. And they're probably commuting to a low paying job that's not in Lower Manhattan, and probably not accessible by subway.
In any case, if you don't want to take my word for it you can read
this UCLA study that ties SoCal's transit ridership declines explicitly to increased car ownership among low income minorities.