TTC
Beginning Sept. 1, TTC is increasing service and revising schedules on its subway, streetcar and bus networks.
When fully implemented this fall, the bus network, which has seen sustained and increasing ridership levels, will have more service hours than were in place pre-pandemic. Across the system, service hours will increase to 97% of pre-pandemic levels, with ridership at approximately 80-85% compared to 2019.
The improvements, TTC says, come in time for the new school year and the return of more people to in-office work. They also better align with the growing demand of more than 2.5 million daily weekday boardings.
Overall, the changes will “increase frequency, improve reliability, and strengthen connections throughout the city,” the agency noted.
Subway service on Line 1 Yonge-University will be increased to address crowding and shorten waits at the busiest times. Trains will arrive every two-to-three minutes during weekday morning and afternoon rush hours, and every four-to-five minutes in the early afternoons and evenings between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. The new schedules will shorten wait times by up to approximately one minute. Extra trains will add more demand-responsive service on Line 2 Bloor-Danforth, with further scheduled increases planned to start in October.
TTC is also expanding overnight streetcar service with more frequent trips on the 312 St Clair and 306 Carlton routes, as well as introducing a new 303 Kingston Rd overnight service, providing more transit options for customers between 1:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. daily.
A complete list of service changes beginning in September can be found here.
PANYNJ
According to PANYNJ, PATH recorded its busiest July 4th in more than a decade due to the region’s annual fireworks show returning to the Hudson River, contributing to a ridership jump of 18% for the month over July 2023.
The PATH commuter rail system served 4.9 million passengers in July 2024. This was an increase of 18% from July 2023. It was 68% of July 2019’s total ridership. Average weekday ridership stood at 183,298 in July 2024. This was 13% higher than the same metric in July 2023.
The PATH system moved 117,619 riders on July 4, when the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks returned to the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey. This was PATH’s highest July 4 ridership since 2013, the last year the fireworks were launched from the Hudson.
PATH’s weekend ridership continued to show robust performance, according to PANYNJ. July 2024’s average Saturday ridership was 104,891 passengers. This outpaced pre-pandemic July 2019’s average Saturday ridership by 4%. Average Sunday ridership in July 2024 was on par with July 2019.
Separately, July 2024 marked the “busiest July of all time” at the Port of New York and New Jersey with the port handling 806,015 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) through the month.
It was the seventh-busiest month in the port’s history and the first time the port handled more than 800,000 TEUs within a month since September 2022. Cargo activity has grown as retailers prepare for back-to-school and holiday shopping, according to PANYNJ.
July 2024’s total was an 11% increase over July 2023, and a 4% increase over July 2022, the month’s previous high-water mark. It was a 14% increase over June 2024.
The port has handled 5,016,672 TEUs through the first seven months of the year. This was a 12% increase from the same period in 2023, and a 16% jump from the first seven months of 2019. The port continued its status as the second busiest in the nation for loaded TEUs, handling 3,376,010 loaded imports and exports from January through July.
CapMetro
CapMetro has launched its newly formed Transit Police Department to help with public safety, according to a Fox 7 Austin report. Officers were sworn in this week, including the first ever police chief.
According to CapMetro, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement certified team of police officers are trained in “crisis intervention, people-centric policing, and fair and impartial policing,” Fox 7 Austin reported.
The CapMetro Board of Directors approved the creation of a transit police in August 2021. A TCOLE Certification was granted last month, according to the report.
The transit police team currently includes a chief, assistant chief, captain, and dispatchers.
“My primary goal is to make sure that we create a safe environment for our ridership as well as our community and making sure that we keep them safe,” said CapMetro Transit Police Chief Eric Robins.
The new police chief says in the next phase, transit police will hire more officers.
More information about the CapMetro Transit Police Department is available here.
New Orleans RTA
The City of New Orleans has finalized a CEA, ensuring the New Orleans RTA’s Opportunity Pass pilot program can move forward.
RTA partnered with RIDE New Orleans (RIDE), New Orleans Public Library (NOPL), and the New Orleans Children and Youth Planning Board (NOLACYPB) to work together in developing the next steps of the Opportunity Pass zero-fares pilot program, which will officially launch Sept. 3, 2024.
“For months, these four organizations and agencies have worked tirelessly to collaborate on the creation of this life-changing program from the ground up,” RTA noted. The one-year zero-fares pilot program, Opportunity Pass, will provide Orleans Parish youth ages 16 to 24 access to free rides on RTA buses, streetcars, and ferries. “This is an essential step in removing one of the many barriers that youth face every day,” according to the agency.
“Over the course of the one-year pilot, our organizations will connect with participating youth through focus groups,” RTA said. “Their feedback will help us establish ways to improve and strengthen the program.” In addition to meeting with the youth, RTA and RIDE will report on the program’s ridership details, which the agency says “hopes encourages leaders to advocate for sustainable funding to create a permanent program that will benefit Orleans Parish youth.” This pilot is also the result of “enduring collaboration” with the City of New Orleans and the City Council, in particular President Helena Moreno.
“The Opportunity Pass is the result of months of hard work, collaboration, and cooperation with several different agencies and City leaders. We are proud and excited to serve as a partner on this project,” said New Orleans RTA CEO Lona Edwards Hankins. “This pilot is rooted in RTA’s commitment to equity while providing a world-class rider experience. This is also personal to me, as I learned up close the value of affordable transit for young adults during my time rebuilding the New Orleans public schools after Hurricane Katrina. These riders represent our next generation, and so often are our most vulnerable. We must embrace every opportunity to help get them to their jobs, their schools, and their communities. As we modernize our fleet and improve service reliability, we are paving the way for how New Orleans rolls into the future.”
