National Transit ridership remains depressed while “free” buses facilitate crime in Albuquerque

Transit’s declining ridership during and since the COVID 19 pandemic has been well-documented but Marc Joffe of the Cato Institute has an excellent blog post in which he details plummeting transit ridership and just how weak the ridership recovery has been.

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The national data track nicely with City of Albuquerque bus ridership which has been on a declining trend for many years. The same is true for the Rail Runner.

What is more shocking is the documented role that Albuquerque’s bus system (especially “free” bus fares) continue to play in the City’s crime epidemic. A recent Albuquerque Journal editorial highlights what anyone who tracks Albuquerque’s tragic crime situation has seen already.

How much more money has to be poured into wasteful transit projects is anyone’s guess, but at the VERY least the City of Albuquerque should abandon its failed “free” bus experiment.