Public transportation plays a critical role in Central and Eastern Pennsylvania’s lives whether they’re trying to get to work, run errands, or get to their medical appointments. The mass transit is changing, pitting traditional methods against things like rideshare services.

According to Richard Farr, Executive Director of Rabbit Transit, technology has been a game changer in services they provide the public.

“Now we're paying by cell phones. We used to have to print hundreds of thousands of schedules. It is now an app that tracks the bus in real time and provides people with real time information. So, I think really technology has really pushed us to the forefront, you know, working with Google where you can do trip planning, “said Farr.

During the pandemic, mass transit decreased in ridership due to the shut down and social distancing. Greg Downing, Executive Director of the South-Central Transit Authority says they about 85-90 percent of where they were pre pandemic.

“A monthly pass for us is forty-two dollars for the regular person and twenty dollars for a student. Now, when you compare what the average car payment is too individual, which is I think in 2025, it's over seven hundred dollars just for a car payment. That's not even including maintenance and insurance. We're talking about just actual dollars going back into someone's pocket. So, we have been constantly just preaching that public transit is the way to go. So, as we continue to build that message and continue to get that message out there, communicate it all to the masses, I'll say we're seeing that more and more. Whereas we had a low before we're starting to kick back up as far as getting our number, our ridership numbers back to where they were, “said Downing.

Listen to the podcast to hear the entire interview.

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