City councils rewrite transit plans as commuter habits shift

For decades, urban transit was designed around a single assumption: most people travel into the centre in the morning and back out in the evening, five days a week. That assumption no longer holds in many cities.

Planners now describe a flatter demand curve, with quieter Mondays and Fridays and busier weekends. The response has been a shift from radial commuter lines toward frequent, all-day service on orbital routes.

Critics argue the changes risk stranding suburban riders who still depend on peak-hour capacity. Supporters counter that steady, predictable service attracts riders who previously never considered public transport.

What is clear is that the network of the next decade will be judged less by rush-hour throughput and more by how useful it is at two in the afternoon on a Sunday.