by JohnFromJersey
Now that work from home/hybrid is quickly being adopted indefinitely by companies, even as COVID seems to fade, there's far less demand for commuting, or at least commuting every weekday. I'd imagine some companies will have their employees commute M-W-F, some T-Th, and some will continue to maintain M-T-W-Th-F, but that means there will be far less ridership on average.
Per the Lackawanna Cutoff Passenger Service Restoration thread,
However, in that same thread, it was discussed that crime on a lot of commuter lines, especially in NYC, is on the rise. I read today that compared to this period just a year ago, subway crime is up 68%!
A combination of poor political leadership and economic woes have resulted in NYC subways being a battle royale - there have been so many high-profile incidents, with a mass shooting in the Brooklyn subway being just days as this thread is created. In many of the news interviews, I saw witnesses/survivors say that they will avoid taking trains/public transit from here on out. Getting political, it seems like NYC's leaders are continuing to neglect the issue of rising crime even after this.
Not to mention, COVID seemed to make everyone afraid of shared public spaces. For whatever reason, due to the last two or so years, people seem to rather drive to the city/their job, if they even have to be in-person for it. This means a lot of lost revenues long-term for NJT, MTA, Metro-North, etc. And those guys were having a lot of issues with equipment being outdated or breaking a lot before this!
Will we see another 60's/70's-esque collapse of passenger/commuter rail? They are all backed by the government, but that wouldn't stop some politician(s) from drastically cutting funds and services
Per the Lackawanna Cutoff Passenger Service Restoration thread,
Ken W2KB wrote: ↑Fri Apr 15, 2022 10:15 am I agree in principle, but the impact of work from home is now a substantial consideration. Many businesses have announced that they intend to continue work from home after the pandemic ends as it results in greater employee satisfaction due to zero cost and time wasted in commuting, and is far less costly for the business, as office and auxiliary space needs are substantially reduced as average in-office days will be reduced to two or three days a week on average versus the historical five. By way of personal observation of the High Bridge station parking lot in western NJ, two years ago before the pandemic there were 40 or more cars parked there to take the train, since then and currently there are only 9 or 10 cars parked there on workdays. That is a 75% reduction in ridership from High Bridge which is certainly not unique to this station. Certainly some ridership will return with time, especially for those employees with much shorter commutes for whom work from home has fewer time and cost saving advantages, but the need for additional longer commuter service is questionable at best.you can deduce that this can be a long-term problem.
However, in that same thread, it was discussed that crime on a lot of commuter lines, especially in NYC, is on the rise. I read today that compared to this period just a year ago, subway crime is up 68%!
A combination of poor political leadership and economic woes have resulted in NYC subways being a battle royale - there have been so many high-profile incidents, with a mass shooting in the Brooklyn subway being just days as this thread is created. In many of the news interviews, I saw witnesses/survivors say that they will avoid taking trains/public transit from here on out. Getting political, it seems like NYC's leaders are continuing to neglect the issue of rising crime even after this.
Not to mention, COVID seemed to make everyone afraid of shared public spaces. For whatever reason, due to the last two or so years, people seem to rather drive to the city/their job, if they even have to be in-person for it. This means a lot of lost revenues long-term for NJT, MTA, Metro-North, etc. And those guys were having a lot of issues with equipment being outdated or breaking a lot before this!
Will we see another 60's/70's-esque collapse of passenger/commuter rail? They are all backed by the government, but that wouldn't stop some politician(s) from drastically cutting funds and services