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Richmond & Hampton Roads
Ben Chavis, NNPA CEO
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Virginia public transit grapples with reduced ridership, zero fare KATHARINE DEROSA
CNS — Virginia public transit systems from Northern Virginia to Hampton Roads are looking for a path forward after losing riders and revenue during the pandemic. Some transit systems have been harder hit than others. “We are serving a market of essential workers that can’t stay home; they have to use our service,” said Greater Richmond Transit Co. CEO Julie Timm during a recent presentation. Gov. Ralph Northam issued a state of emergency in March of last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The move prompted limits on public and private gatherings, telework policies and mandates to wear masks in public, although some restrictions have eased. GRTC faced a “potentially catastrophic budget deficit” since eliminating fares last March in response to the pandemic and reductions in public funding starting in July of this year, according to the organization’s annual report. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funding and Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation emergency funding covered the deficit, according to the report. The transit system lost about 20 percent of riders when comparing March to November 2019 with
the same 9-month period in 2020. Overall, fiscal year-to-date ridership on local-fixed routes decreased the least (-16 percent), compared to the bus-rapid transit line (-49 percent) and express routes (-84 percent), according to GRTC data. Local-fixed routes had a 7 percent increase from March 2020 to March 2021. GRTC eliminated fares in March 2020 to avoid “close interactions at bus fareboxes,” Timm said in a statement at the time. CARES Act funding made the move possible. GRTC will offer free rides until the end of June. GRTC will need an additional $5.3 million when federal funding
ceases to continue operating with zero fare, Timm said. Zero fare can be supported through the third round of federal stimulus money and Department of Rail and Public Transportation funding, advertising revenue and other funding sources, Timm said. “This is the conversation and it’s a hard conversation,” Timm said. “To fare or not to fare?” GRTC serves a majority Black and majority female riders, according to the 2020 annual report. Commuters account for over half the trips taken on GRTC buses and almost threequarters of commuter trips are five or more days per week. Nearly 80
percent of riders have a household income of less than $50,000 per year. GRTC spends about $1.7 million to collect fares annually, according to Timm. Eliminating fares is more optimal than collecting fares, Timm said in March. She believes in zero fare operation because the bus rates act as a regressive tax, which takes a large percentage of income from low-income earners. Free fares could lead to overcrowding on buses, opponents argue. However, Timm said that’s not a good reason to abolish the initiative. “If we have a demand for more transit, I don’t think the answer is to put fares out to reduce the ridership,” Timm said. “I think the answer is to find additional funding sources and commitment to increase service to meet that demand.” GRTC will continue to evaluate the effectiveness of the zero fare model, according to Timm. “We’ll have a lot of conversations post-COVID about how we consider transit, how we invest in transit and how that investment in transit lifts up our entire region, not just our riders but all of our economy for a stronger marketplace,” Timm said. GRTC added another bus route as the COVID-19 pandemic hit last March. Route 111 runs in
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