> The idea that the average income of mass transit users is higher than that of drivers (pre-pandemic) is counter intuitive.
I don’t know about NYC but here in DC you’ll see the same argument made. The demographics of commuter rail and long-distance subway trips are more affluent because that’s who can live in those suburbs (federal government commuters also get subsidies which are appealing compared to the traffic), while bus ridership had a lot more poor and especially elderly people. Trying to come up with one policy for the average of all 3 systems is going to be misleading in every direction.
I don’t know about NYC but here in DC you’ll see the same argument made. The demographics of commuter rail and long-distance subway trips are more affluent because that’s who can live in those suburbs (federal government commuters also get subsidies which are appealing compared to the traffic), while bus ridership had a lot more poor and especially elderly people. Trying to come up with one policy for the average of all 3 systems is going to be misleading in every direction.