California's rail systems need more riders. High gas prices could be fueling a new surge
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With the Iran war continuing to strangle Middle East oil supplies, public transit agencies looking to add passengers might expect high gas prices to incentivize people to ride the rails more than ever.Historically, high gas prices do lead to spikes in public transportation use.But the pandemic hit mass transit hard, particularly in California, and the recovery has been slow as a number of people continue to work from home.Gas prices spiked after the Ukraine war began in 2022 but did not spur major ridership increases in local public transportation, and the question is whether the reaction to high fuel prices from the Iran war will be different.The number of residents who rode their local rail lines in two of California’s major metropolitan cities jumped significantly last month.
Although officials believe gas prices may be one factor behind the increase, experts say it’s not yet clear if this is the beginning of a larger trend.California’s gas prices have risen 30% since the start of the year, according to data from the U.S.Energy Information Administration.
In the Los Angeles-Long Beach area, the average price for regular gas jumped from $4.67 in February to $5.93 in March; the average in San Francisco also increased — from $4.83 in February to $5.99, the American Automobile Assn.reported.At the same time, ridership in each region jumped by about 1 million passengers.A Times analysis found that the number of Los Angeles Metro riders peaked in March at 6.3 million, an increase from 5.8 million in March of 2025 and 5.7 million during the same month the year before.
About 5.4 million riders hopped on the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit rail system in March, an increase from 4.5 million in the same month in 2025 and 4.1 million in 2024.The regions’ bus systems have shown small increases in ridership or held steady: S.F.’s Muni grew from an estimated 13 million pa...