Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Challenge

Maven Commuter Challenge

Objective

· Evaluate Pandemic Impact Assess the extent of ridership decline across all transit modes due to the COVID-19 pandemic and quantify the long-term effects on the MTA system.

· Monitor Recovery Trends Track ridership recovery percentages by year, quarter, and transit mode, identifying patterns and progress toward pre-pandemic levels.

· Identify Key Contributors Highlight the transit modes (e.g., subways, buses) contributing the most to overall ridership and those with slower recovery to prioritize improvement efforts.

· Support Strategic Planning Provide actionable insights to guide resource allocation, service optimization, and marketing strategies tailored to specific transit modes or seasonal trends.

· Improve Underperforming Modes Analyze ridership trends for underutilized modes (e.g., Staten Island Railway, Access-A-Ride) and propose solutions to increase usage and accessibility.

1. KPI Cards

Metrics:

• Total Rider (7.93bn): Total cumulative ridership across all transit types.
• Average Rider Loss % (-37.47%): Percentage decrease in ridership compared to pre-pandemic levels.
• Average Rider Recovery % (62.53%): Percentage of ridership recovered since the lowest pandemic levels.

Actionable Insights:

• Recovery Status: At 62.53% recovery, there’s progress toward pre-pandemic levels but still room to improve. Consider focusing on segments (e.g., subways, buses) with higher recovery rates for targeted campaigns.
• Rider Loss Monitoring: A 37.47% loss emphasizes the long-term impact of the pandemic. Evaluate transit modes contributing most to the loss for optimization or additional incentives to boost ridership.

2. Three Busiest Transport Trending (Line Area Chart)

Description:

• This chart compares trends in ridership for the top three transport modes (Bridges and Tunnels, Buses, Subways) over time.
• Subways dominate, showing a steady increase since 2020, with occasional dips.
• Buses and Bridges/Tunnels remain relatively flat in ridership trends.

Actionable Insights:

• Subway Growth: The consistent rise in subway ridership indicates successful recovery efforts. Enhance these by ensuring infrastructure reliability and promoting subway usage further.
• Flat Trends for Buses/Bridges: Limited growth in buses and bridges suggests stagnant demand. Investigate factors (e.g., alternative modes, service quality, or demographic shifts) and develop specific strategies to boost these modes.
• Seasonal Peaks: Observe peaks to align marketing campaigns or optimize schedules for high-demand periods.

3. Pie Chart: Ridership by Transportation Types

Description:

• Subways (53.9%) dominate the share, followed by Buses (21.6%), and Bridges and Tunnels (18.4%).
• Smaller shares for other modes like LIRR, Metro-North, Staten Island Railway, and Access-A-Ride.

Actionable Insights:

• Subway Dependency: With over half the ridership, the subway system is a critical component. Investments in maintenance, expansions, and customer satisfaction should be prioritized here.
• Underutilized Modes: Modes like Staten Island Railway and Access-A-Ride have minimal ridership. Consider exploring ways to make these services more accessible or appealing to commuters.

4. Pre vs. Post Pandemic Rider Comparison (Bar Chart)

Description:

• A comparison of pre-pandemic vs. post-pandemic ridership shows:
  • Significant drops across all transit modes.
  • Subways and buses suffered the largest decreases.
  • Staten Island Railway, Metro-North, and Access-A-Ride have the smallest absolute numbers but also saw substantial declines.

Actionable Insights:

• Focus on Major Contributors: Target recovery strategies on subways and buses, as they contribute most to overall ridership.
• Rebuild Smaller Modes: Create campaigns or service improvements for underperforming transit modes, like Staten Island Railway and Metro-North, to regain lost riders.

8. Rider Recovery % by Year (Heatmap)

Description:

• A heatmap showing recovery percentages by transit mode and year:
  • Bridges and Tunnels, Access A ride consistently show highest recovery percentages.
  • While Other modes lag behind in recovery.

9. Average Rider Recovery % by Year, Quarter, Month, and Day (Line Chart)

Description:

• This line chart shows the daily average ridership recovery percentage over time, broken down by year and smaller intervals (quarter, month, day).
• A gradual upward trend indicates recovery after the pandemic, with minor fluctuations in specific time periods.

Actionable Insights:

• Recovery Momentum: The consistent increase in rider recovery is a positive trend. Continue efforts like marketing campaigns or service improvements to sustain this growth.
• Fluctuations: Investigate spikes and dips in recovery percentages to understand seasonal, economic, or external factors (e.g., holidays, fare changes, extreme weather).
• Granularity: Use the daily recovery trends to pinpoint specific months or periods where recovery efforts were particularly effective or needed adjustments.

10. Which Transport Mode Recovered Fast? (Scatter Plot)

Description:

• This scatter plot compares the recovery percentage for different transit modes (e.g., Subways, Buses, Bridges and Tunnels) against their total ridership.
• Clusters highlight that Bridges and Tunnels have higher recovery percentages, while modes like Metro-North and Access-A-Ride show slower recovery.

11. Average Rider Recovery and Loss % by Year (Bar Chart)

Description:

• This bar chart splits each year into Average Loss % (negative values) and Average Recovery % (positive values).
• Significant recovery is observed from 2021 onward, with a steady decline in losses year-over-year.
• 2024 shows the highest recovery rate at 81%, compared to earlier years.

Actionable Insights:

• Recovery Improvements: The upward trajectory in recovery percentages indicates progress. Focus on maintaining the momentum in 2024 and beyond.
• Loss Reduction: The shrinking negative loss percentages suggest that strategies implemented post-pandemic have been effective. Continue prioritizing areas with slow recovery.
• Year-over-Year Learning: Compare recovery trends for different years to identify successful strategies (e.g., service expansions, fare adjustments).

12. Average Recovery % by Month (Heatmap)

Description:

• This heatmap displays the monthly average rider recovery percentage for each transport mode, with darker shades indicating higher recovery rates.
• Modes like Bridges and Tunnels (93.38%) and Access-A-Ride (86.17%) have the highest overall recovery percentages.
• Staten Island Railway and Metro-North have significantly lower recovery percentages.

13. Yearly and Quarterly Overview (Right Panel):

• Yearly Total Riders: Shows total ridership for each year from 2020 to 2024, highlighting recovery trends from the pandemic.
  • Ridership in 2020 was significantly low (758M), likely due to COVID-19.
  • There has been a steady increase in ridership, peaking at 2B in 2023.
  • 2024 shows a slight decline in ridership (1.7B, year-to-date).
• Month-on-Month Percentage (MoM%) Change: Tracks ridership fluctuations across months and years.
  • Significant MoM% drop (-82.87%) in 2020, correlating with pandemic restrictions.
  • Post-2021, MoM% stabilizes with minor fluctuations, indicating recovery and consistent demand.

14. Ridership by Transport Mode

• Heatmap categorizes monthly ridership across various transportation modes (Access-A-Ride, Buses, Subways, etc.).
• Darker shades indicate higher ridership; lighter shades show lower ridership.
• Subways and buses are likely major contributors based on their visibility.

15 Comparison by Year

• Provides a quick snapshot of total riders for each year.
• 2023 was the peak year (2B), showing MTA's recovery from earlier disruptions.
• 2020 marked the lowest ridership (0.8B), reflecting the pandemic's impact.

16 Month and Quarter Specific data

• Quarterly breakdown shows the total riders and MoM% change for each quarter.
• Q2 and Q3 consistently have higher ridership compared to Q1 and Q4, possibly due to better weather or seasonal travel patterns.

Overall Report Summary:

The dashboard provides a comprehensive analysis of MTA ridership trends from 2020 to 2024, highlighting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, subsequent recovery efforts, and mode-specific performance. It shows a sharp ridership decline in 2020 (-37.47% loss compared to pre-pandemic levels), followed by gradual recovery, peaking in 2023 with 2 billion riders and a 62.53% recovery rate.

Subways dominate overall ridership (53.9%), with steady growth since 2020, while buses and bridges/tunnels show relatively stagnant trends. Smaller modes, like Staten Island Railway and Access-A-Ride, remain underutilized. Heatmaps and line charts emphasize seasonal and year-over-year variations, indicating higher recovery percentages in modes like Bridges and Tunnels, while others lag behind.

The report identifies actionable opportunities for targeted campaigns, infrastructure investments, and mode-specific optimizations to accelerate recovery and drive future ridership growth.