The Best Way to ‘Lure’ People to Public Transit Is to Make It Work

"Every few weeks, some national media outlet runs a storyabout the challenge facing transit agencies after the pandemic recedes and some semblance of normal life is restored. The premise: if people don't start taking transit again in similar numbers as before the pandemic, transit agencies will be in financial turmoil. Invariably, these articles—often in the headline—use the same word: lure. As in, "Can 8 Million Daily Riders Be Lured Back to N.Y. Mass Transit?" or "In Washington, Metro is considering discounted fares to lure workers back this fall."