Paris experiments with driverless shuttle service

May 10, 2021
The transport authority uses an autonomous vehicle to bring people to a park. The free weekend service offers a glimpse of the future.
The Paris transit authority tests a driverless vehicle in 2016. An autonomous shuttle has been taking people to the Bois de Vincennes on weekends since January.
Eric Feferberg/AFP via Getty Images

Transit agencies get $14 billion in relief, with ridership still down

Dec 29, 2020
The money will let agencies avoid doomsday scenarios of thousands of layoffs and drastic service cuts.
A woman exits a Brooklyn subway station on Nov. 18, 2020, in New York City.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Public transit emerges a big winner in election

Nov 5, 2020
Even as the pandemic drives down ridership, voters approved more than a dozen local transit measures.
A woman rides a Metro Rail train in April in Los Angeles. The pandemic has led to a plummet in public transit ridership.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Bus drivers in Detroit, as essential workers, face COVID-19 safety concerns

Apr 16, 2020
After Detroit bus drivers staged a "sick-out," passengers began getting free rides so that drivers wouldn't have to handle fares.
A woman walks a dog at the Rosa Parks Transit Center in downtown Detroit.
Eli Newman

COVID-19 could stress mass transit budgets

Mar 16, 2020
The San Francisco Bay Area’s transit system says it’s losing $500,000 a day in lost fares.
Ridership is down during the coronavirus.
Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

Should public buses be free?

Dec 4, 2019
Kansas City, Missouri is debating eliminating fares, which would make it the largest city in the U.S. to do so.
A public bus pulls up to a stop in Kansas City, Missouri. Transit officials hope the city will sign off on their idea to eliminate bus fares.
Lisa Rodriguez for Marketplace

Why are subways in the U.S. so expensive?

Apr 11, 2019
American cities pay a mysterious premium for underground rail lines.
Construction workers at New York's Second Avenue subway project site in 2014. The 1.8-mile project cost an estimated $4.5 billion, an average cost of $2.5 per mile.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Federal shutdown imperils public transport nationwide

Jan 24, 2019
While the D.C. Metro is losing revenue, public transit systems across the country aren't getting federal funding.
 
Amid the ongoing government shutdown, the Washington, D.C. Metro says it’s losing $400,000 per day in revenue.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

In an effort to boost ridership, Atlanta is rebranding its trains and buses

Jun 6, 2018
Transit in Atlanta has struggled with a bad reputation. State lawmakers hope a new brand will change that.
Atlanta area leaders want to change the brand of transit locally. The name of the city’s longtime transit agency, MARTA, has baggage.
Stephannie Stokes for Marketplace

Baltimore subway closure exposes deeper problems

Feb 23, 2018
Transit advocates say the city's system perpetuates inequality.
The Penn-North Metro Subway Station in West Baltimore is among those closed for emergency track repairs.
Amy Scott/Marketplace