NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — The Long Island Rail Road is trying to come up with new ways to bring commuters back.
About 42% of the pre-pandemic ridership has returned to the LIRR — up from about 27% just a few months ago.
A new report from Newsday found sales of monthly LIRR passes have taken a nosedive, down 85% from pre-pandemic numbers, while sales of 10-trip tickets have jumped by 149%.
The shift appears to be a reflection of new hybrid work schedules that combine office time with working from home. The suspension of peak fares during rush hour amid the pandemic may have also contributed to the lower demand for monthly passes.
Under the current system, a monthly ticket costs about the same as 22 peak trips.
Given the new commuting reality, Gerard Bringmann, head of the LIRR Commuter Council, said new types of ticketing is needed.
"The full-timers it pays for them to go ahead and get the regular standard monthlies that we've had all along, but for the people who are coming in twice a week it doesn't make any sense," he said. "The railroad does have a 10-trip ticket, which is like five round trips, but then you have people constantly every couple of weeks buying a ticket."
The council is proposing the railroad provide a 20-trip ticket option.
"Which would be 10 round trips which would pretty much take care of a lot of the people who are coming back and are only working twice a week," Bringmann said.
LIRR President Phil Eng tells WCBS 880's Sophia Hall that the railroad is "being very open minded to different ticket types.
"A lot of that is still being discussed internally and being reviewed to see how we handle those folks that no longer need the monthly tickets," he added.