Work from home is the biggest driver keeping mass transit ridership stuck below pre-pandemic levels, MTA Chairperson Janno Lieber said Wednesday.
Safety concerns are also to blame, said Lieber, but transit data show that New Yorkers from blue-collar areas have returned to the subways and buses in greater numbers, even though they live in neighborhoods with higher crime rates.
Residents in wealthier parts of town with lower crime rates — who are more likely to have a job with a remote option — have been slower to travel back to the office for work, according to the transit chief.