Who is returning to normal ridership? A socio-demographic study on pre- and post-covid-19 public transit ridership in San Francisco

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the transportation sector. Public transit around the cities was among the modes of transport that were severely affected by the pandemic. In this post-COVID era, various studies have evaluated the extent of recovery. In so doing, studies have indicated that various modes of transportation are getting to normal. However, scarce literature is available that focuses on the social demographics of individuals who are returning to their normal.

Methods

This study applied ordered logistic regression on the longitudinal survey data collected between 2013 and 2023 in San Francisco, California, to evaluate the social-demographic characteristics of individuals who are returning to normal public transit ridership.

Results

The study used the 2013–2019 data to establish the pre-COVID trend and the 2023 data to assess when a similar trend exists. It was found that ridership declined significantly for residents with higher education, higher income, mid-age residents (35–44 years), and those who lived in San Francisco for more than six years. Conversely, there was an increase in ridership for older residents (45 years and above), African Americans, and people of mixed race. Further, male residents, Asian Americans, and Hispanics did not indicate a significant change in ridership.

Conclusions

The findings can be utilized by public transit operators in San Francisco and cities with similar demographic distribution to improve ridership in the post-COVID era.