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MBTA ridership is still down: Fares cover less than a quarter of operating costs now, officials say

"We're very far away from pre-pandemic levels for fare revenue."

Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

By Christopher Gavin

2 minutes to read
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Fare revenues for the MBTA continue to be comparatively lower than what the agency raked in before the COVID-19 pandemic, as Boston’s transit system fell $51 million short of its anticipated fare cashflow in the first half of the 2023 fiscal year, officials said Thursday.

“We’re very far away from pre-pandemic levels for fare revenue, and you can see that factor by reviewing the fare recovery ratio at 23% compared to fiscal year ’20 of 42%,” Chief Financial Officer Mary Ann O’Hara told the MBTA Board of Directors. “This means fare revenue is now supporting less than one quarter of operating expenses today.”

According to O’Hara, fare revenues over the first two quarters of the current fiscal year came in at $183.6 million — 22 percent lower than the expected $234.7 million.

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In the second quarter alone, the MBTA collected $94.3 million in fare revenue — far below the $179.4 million generated during the same period in fiscal year 2020 for a total difference of $85 million.

“We continue to monitor fare revenue very closely to see if there’s any possible upcoming trends that may impact the projection as we move further into the fiscal year,” O’Hara said.

However, the losses have not impeded the MBTA’s overall financial operations, as the agency has tapped into state tax revenue, federal funding, and other resources.

“Thankfully, our non-operating revenues and the state sales taxes have grown enough to offset these fare revenue losses, and that is about a 2% increase in total revenue above pre-pandemic levels,” O’Hara said.

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Still, MBTA officials contended Thursday the agency has to reckon with the parameters of the “new normal,” as commuting patterns have shifted amid the work-from-home movement.

Board member Mary Beth Mello asked administrators, at what point does the MBTA no longer continue comparing fare revenues and ridership to fiscal year 2020?

“Have we advanced to the point where that’s not a useful comparison anymore?” she asked. “We’re in a different reality. We’re in recovery mode. We’re trying to do a lot of things I know to improve the system and improve ridership and attract more riders. But at what point is that comparison not helpful?”

Mello noted the federal government is ending its declared public health emergency for the pandemic in May.

“At some point, I think we have to move on and grapple with what this new reality is in looking at our metrics,” Mello said. “I’m just throwing that out there today to encourage people to maybe start thinking about that because, you know, going backwards might not be something that we’ll ever achieve again.”

O’Hara indicated her office is taking that into consideration as it prepares the budget for fiscal year 2024.

David Panagore, the agency’s chief administrative officer, said the MBTA’s approach is first to see several quarters where key metrics around that new normal are stabilized — trends the system is starting to see in the public’s work patterns this year.

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“I think it’s really a slow walk to that, not a clean break,” Panagore said. “But I think that you’re going to start seeing us start moving in that direction.”

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