Transit ridership continues to decline, hits 5 year low
Halifax Transit released its quarterly Key Performance Indicator report. The report contains ridership figures for Q4 of FY2017-18 (January 1 – March 31 2017).
Notable figures include:
- A 2.5% decline in ridership compared to the same time last year
- A 1% decrease in ferry ridership
- A 3% increase in Access-A-Bus ridership
It’s worth noting that this represents a 5-year low in 4th quarter transit ridership. The highest reported ridership figure was recorded in Q4 of FY2012-13. Since then, transit ridership has continued to decline in the fourth quarter (with the exception of FY2015-16).
Halifax Transit doesn’t report annual ridership figures, but we pulled the data from previous years’ reports. This fiscal year also represents a 5 year low in annual ridership.
| Annual Transit Ridership by Quarter (millions of people) | |||||
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Annual | |
| FY2012-13 | 4.43 | 4.51 | 5.28 | 5.14 | 19.36 |
| FY2013-14 | 4.61 | 4.71 | 5.36 | 5.08 | 19.76 |
| FY2014-15 | 4.58 | 4.65 | 5.29 | 4.94 | 19.46 |
| FY2015-16 | 4.6 | 4.61 | 5.28 | 5.01 | 19.5 |
| FY2016-17 | 4.49 | 4.64 | 5.14 | 4.88 | 19.15 |
It’s worth noting that Halifax Transit is changing the way it counts riders. According to the report, Automated Passenger Count technology is expected to be implemented in Q1 of FY2017-2018, which means by next quarter, we should have a more accurate picture of how well transit is used.
The two reasons Halifax Transit gives for the decline in ridership:
- Snow Days
- The Big Lift