TIME
As COVID-19 has forced people to avoid crowds and work from home, transit hubs across the country have seen their profits from ridership fares tank. Rail ridership in Washington, D.C. has plummeted 86% since 2019; daily ridership on New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) subways is down 67 to 72%; … These declines have fueled extreme budget shortfalls, forcing transit authorities to slash routes and delay scheduled expansions—decisions that, experts say, could impair mass transit for the next decade.