Post-pandemic Recovery of Transit Ridership and Revenue in Canada

Abstract

Four years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Canada’s public transit ridership and farebox revenues remain below pre-pandemic levels. Despite the lifting of mobility and assembly restrictions and significant population growth in the past two years due to an influx of immigrants, foreign students, and temporary workers, transit ridership and revenues have not recovered. The pandemic restrictions caused an 84 percent drop in ridership and farebox revenues. Despite the slow recovery, urban transit ridership in Canada is expected to reach the pre-pandemic level by 2026.