The Americans Who Could Be Stranded by Transit Cuts
A new analysis illustrates how more than 3 million people across 10 U.S. regions could lose access to high-quality public transportation, with Black residents severely affected.
Left behind: African-American transit users would suffer the most if anticipated cuts to service occur, a new report estimates.
Photographer: Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images
When Maryland transit officials canceled plans to permanently cut 25 bus lines and reduce service on a dozen other routes in the Baltimore area, it was a bright spot in a dismal year for public transit. With ridership and revenues plunging during the pandemic, critics had warned that the Maryland Transit Administration’s proposal to slash city bus service would disproportionately target “low-income communities, communities of color, and people with disabilities,” according to one opposition statement signed by 64 groups.
Yet while local transit advocates applauded the reversal, it could not be called a total victory: Cuts are still coming. With the MTA still facing a 21% budget hole, it will instead reduce service on its commuter bus and MARC rail lines into Washington, D.C., whose more white-collar riderships have seen steeper declines since the start of the pandemic compared to regular bus routes. Even under the new plan, “people will lose their jobs and their access to opportunity,” Robbyn Lewis, a Baltimore-area state legislator, tweeted.