After another year of missed ridership projections, Virginia Railway Express is banking on some return of office-workers to Washington in its new budget for the 2023 fiscal year.
The commuter rail service is projecting an average daily ridership of 8,000 in the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1. It will have to use more of its quickly diminishing pandemic relief money than expected for the second straight year to backfill projected fare revenues if it misses that mark.
If the current fiscal year – which closes in June – ends as expected, the system will have to use an extra $5.3 million of its federal relief money over what it expected to offset lost fare revenue. In its budget for this fiscal year, VRE was anticipating 6,000 average daily riders and $18.2 million in fare revenue. Instead, the agency is now projecting just $10.8 million in fare revenue.
At the same time, the system is facing increased fuel, maintenance and track access costs, although its leadership insists that capital commitments remain in place for the ongoing Transforming Rail in Virginia project – which will bring increased and bi-directional commuter service to the system by 2030.
Officials are making clear that if ridership doesn’t show significant improvements in 2022, the combination of fare revenues declining and relief money running dry could bring significant changes to VRE’s capital budget and operations in the future. For the most part, transit systems will not be able to use money from last year’s bipartisan infrastructure bill to cover operations.
https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/ne ... VHqKeCxWUE
The commuter rail service is projecting an average daily ridership of 8,000 in the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1. It will have to use more of its quickly diminishing pandemic relief money than expected for the second straight year to backfill projected fare revenues if it misses that mark.
If the current fiscal year – which closes in June – ends as expected, the system will have to use an extra $5.3 million of its federal relief money over what it expected to offset lost fare revenue. In its budget for this fiscal year, VRE was anticipating 6,000 average daily riders and $18.2 million in fare revenue. Instead, the agency is now projecting just $10.8 million in fare revenue.
At the same time, the system is facing increased fuel, maintenance and track access costs, although its leadership insists that capital commitments remain in place for the ongoing Transforming Rail in Virginia project – which will bring increased and bi-directional commuter service to the system by 2030.
Officials are making clear that if ridership doesn’t show significant improvements in 2022, the combination of fare revenues declining and relief money running dry could bring significant changes to VRE’s capital budget and operations in the future. For the most part, transit systems will not be able to use money from last year’s bipartisan infrastructure bill to cover operations.
https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/ne ... VHqKeCxWUE
