Did COVID Kill Transit... or Save it from Itself?
Chapter Host: Washington, D.C | December 9, 2020 | 65 minutes
When COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill, it decimated transit ridership along the way. Most experts agree that ridership will suffer a prolonged depression even after the pandemic fades, far more severe than other modes. Some even predict that COVID will kill public transit as we know it. But the truth is that transit ridership was already suffering an untenable decline even before the pandemic came, with no single cause or cure making recovery a simple proposition. Herbert’s presentation will explore how we got here, what the future holds, and examine whether the shock to the system that COVID provided was a death knell or a hastening to a brighter future.
Based in Los Angeles, Herbert Higginbotham is Cambridge Systematics’ National Practice Lead for Transit and Shared Mobility. He brings over 20 years of professional experience and thought leadership in transit service and operations planning, capital projects, asset management, market analysis, and technology innovation. In his role, Herbert oversees a portfolio of high-profile transit and mobility planning, operations, and innovation projects focused on data-driven problem solving. Through 2020, the CS team has been focused on helping transit agencies rapidly adapt to the realities of the COVID-19 health crisis through the deployment of the Mobility Forward platform of services. Herbert speaks and writes regularly on topics related to the changing mobility landscape.
