For the American Public Transit Association (APTA), a nonprofit international association of 1,500 public and private sector organizations engaged in the public transit industry, EBP conducted an analysis of growing transit funding challenges precipitated by the pandemic across the U.S. Our analysis found that, even with the two rounds of emergency funding Congress provided in 2020, the nation’s public transit agencies still face a projected shortfall of $39.3 billion through the end of calendar year (CY) 2023 due to ongoing losses of fare revenue, tax revenue, and ridership.
Our January 2021 analysis is an update of the original work we conducted for APTA in May 2020. The updated forecast accounts for the additional public finance, economic, ridership, and epidemiological information and research that became available as the pandemic persisted in the second half of 2020. EBP will continue to work with APTA and transportation service providers to provide analysis and insights on the pandemic’s impacts and related economic issues as the national situation evolves.