Canada’s public transit ridership remains far below pre-pandemic levels despite high gas prices of late, according to data released by Statistics Canada on Dec. 20.
In its “Urban Public Transit” report, StatsCan said ridership in October (117.3 million) was the highest since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That said, there were 51.9 million fewer passenger trips in October 2022 compared with the same month in 2019,” said the federal agency, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
In October, the operating revenues, excluding government subsidies, totalled $276.1 million. “While this was the highest level recorded since March 2020, it was still below the level in October 2019,” said the statistical office. Transit revenues were 24.5 percent or $89.5 million lower than pre-pandemic levels….