Public transit systems try to avoid a 'death spiral' as remote work hurts ridership

A Metro train car travels along the Red Line in Washington, D.C. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, riders have slowly returned to taking mass transit. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — In the nation's capital, Metro trains are filling up again as federal workers come back to the office a few days a week.

But if you ask those riders, they will tell you the trains are less full than they used to be.