The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) kicked off its 2024 Legislative Conference on April 8. The opening day featured remarks by Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Acting Administrator Veronica Vanderpool and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Administrator Amit Bose.
The annual event includes sessions with federal officials on top public-policy issues affecting public transportation, including implementing Artificial Intelligence for mobility solutions, and a view from Capitol Hill with Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA), ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. APTA will also be celebrating public transit champions Nuria Fernandez, former FTA Administrator, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), who is retiring after serving 28 years on Capitol Hill.
“APTA’s Legislative Conference is an opportunity for our members to hear directly from policy experts and to meet with members of Congress to build meaningful and productive relationships to support investment in our critical public transportation infrastructure,” said APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas.
APTA also released an update on ridership trends. The main findings include:
- After falling to 20 percent of pre-pandemic levels in April 2020, public transit ridership has recovered to 79 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
- Transit riders took 7.1 billion trips on public transit in 2023, a 16 percent increase over 2022.
- Public transportation ridership levels increased throughout 2023, while office occupancy rates remained stagnant.
“Success in ridership recovery has been dependent on transit service delivery and reliability and external factors, such as the makeup of local economies,” Skoutelas said. “As clearly illustrated during the pandemic, public transportation provides mobility to essential workers, which has sustained transit ridership during the past four years. Public transit agencies continue to develop innovative solutions that are powering this ridership recovery.”
