In November 2021, Congress passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which includes up to $108 billion for public transportation modernization. This historic investment in transportation will be dedicated to helping communities across the United States replace aging infrastructure, transition away from fossil-fuel vehicles to cleaner electric or low-emission transit vehicles and modernize public transit capabilities.
Nuria Fernandez, Administrator at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA), commented that the “long-overdue investments in transit infrastructure will deliver new and expanded public transit services, especially in communities that have suffered from historical funding inequities.” Key priorities outlined in the legislation include safety, modernization, climate, and equity.
Now that transit organizations are returning to normal operations, it will be a great opportunity to incorporate these critical priorities. Even though ridership on subways, trains, and buses has taken a dip over the past two years, analysis by the New York City MTA suggested that ridership will likely return to about 80 to 92 percent of pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024. With aging infrastructure, transit organizations can use data to determine where and when repairs need to be made. The Washington, D.C. Metro is one of the country’s largest subway systems and began the most extensive repair campaign in its history during the pandemic. Safety is a priority in terms of inspection, protecting transit workers and riders from injuries, and ensuring safe access to transit. Passengers need to also feel safe as they are on their post-pandemic transportation journey.
By leveraging technology innovation and modernizing, transit organizations can improve their rider experience with tools, such as journey management and route optimization. Murali Kadambala, Senior Technology Director at LA Metropolitan Transit Authority, shared how tools can analyze an organization’s data and determine productivity along certain routes. Organizations can dig deep to learn why a particular route has a large increase or drop in efficiency. If there is a new job market, organizations can frequent more busses along that route. Or, if it is summer vacation, they can decrease the resources diverted during school time. This not only improves efficiency but also reduces the costs of doing business. With ridership down for the last few years, transit organizations need to maximize revenue and minimize costs.
Public transportation authorities across the country can harness their multitude of data points to create real-time and predictive tools with artificial intelligence and machine learning. Data will help make better data-driven decisions and outcomes for communities. The transportation environment is rapidly evolving to suit the needs of their customers.
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