The problem is looming for big city transit agencies in places like New York and San Francisco, with ridership unlikely to recover before federal pandemic aid dries up, Fitch Ratings warns.
Some of the country’s busiest transit systems will face big budget pressures in the coming years, because their post-pandemic ridership is not likely to recover before federal stimulus funds run out, a major bond ratings agency warned this week.
Fitch Ratings, one of the three dominant ratings companies, said in a report released Wednesday that transit agencies that relied the most on fare revenues—rather than local sales taxes or other income streams—are “expected to face sizable budget gaps” when the federal aid dries up, Fitch analysts warned.
“Transit agencies and governments have the tools to adjust to volume declines. However, the usual tweaks to spending, service levels and fares will not be enough for the nation’s most economically important urban transit agencies, which rely heavily on fares,” they wrote in their report.
Route Fifty
By Daniel C. Vock
AUGUST 11, 2022