LTD’s bus ridership is off 40% from prepandemic levels

The number of passengers boarding Lane Transit District buses has dropped by 40% since its peak in 2018.

For the fiscal year 2017-18, the agency reported a record high 10.2 million rides, 43,000 more boardings than the previous year. (LTD tallies its ridership figures on the same July 1 to June 30 fiscal year that it uses to manage its financial books.)

But three years later, in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership tanked. In 2021, LTD’s annual ridership dropped to 4 million.

It took two more years to climb back to 6 million. Since then, ridership has leveled off — and in fact, during last full fiscal year, ending June 30, 2025, boardings drifted lower again, off 200,000 rides from the year before.

LTD isn’t alone. Nationally, bus ridership is roughly 68% of what it was before the pandemic.

Portland’s TriMet is 82% of what it was.

Salem has defied the odds — ending 2024 with a ridership higher than it was before the pandemic. But that city launched a free student-fare program and added service on Sundays, neither of which existed before the pandemic, said Allan Pollock, general manager of Salem’s transit agency, Cherriots.

LTD had already offered those programs before the pandemic.

Anni Katz, LTD’s public information officer, says there are several reasons for the decline in ridership — some local, some reflective of national trends:

Lane Community College’s enrollment declined, reducing the number of passengers traveling to the college by bus.

More University of Oregon student housing developments have gone up close to campus, meaning fewer UO students also need a bus ride as part of their commute.

The growth of online shopping and the corresponding decline of brick-and-mortar retail took away a demographic of travelers that took a bus to the Oakway or Gateway shopping centers, she said.

Before the pandemic, ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft began service locally, offering new ways to travel. Once passengers were forced to use alternative transit options due to social distancing during the pandemic, their habits changed — in some cases permanently, Katz said.

“Service planners will tell you: Once you reduce service, it’s challenging to bring back riders,” she said. “Why? Quite simply, people find other ways to get around.”

Rider revenue falls

The reduction in ridership has taken a toll on LTD’s passenger revenue, which is now $2 million less than it was in 2019.

Passenger revenue accounts for only a small portion of the agency’s general operating fund of $79 million, but the transit agency had to make cutbacks.

Before the pandemic, LTD had about 280,000 revenue hours, with 215 bus operators. In the fiscal year ending last June 30, LTD operated with 235,000 revenue hours and an average of 198 bus operators. The transit agency cut routes and bus frequency on less popular lines, while adding buses to high-demand routes.

“While many of the forces affecting ridership aren’t under our control, we’re focused both on improving the service we provide today and on engaging in longer-term policy conversations that help level the playing field between transit and other modes,” Katz said.

Some LTD programs, though, have seen an increase in ridership. LTD’s RideSource program, meant for passengers with disabilities, has returned to pre-pandemic levels of use. The Non-Emergency Medical Transportation program is also showing continued growth. And usage of Florence’s bus line, nicknamed the Rhody Express, is up.

“Generally, mobility needs in our community remain high, and we recognize that fixed route service may not be the solution for everything as we plan for the future,” Katz said. “Ridership has been the gold standard for measuring transit systems for decades, but likely will not be 10 years from now.”

LTD invested $30 million in electric buses 6 years ago. They’re being phased out.