Why do we think about transit as something that needs to prove its worth, that must show full buses and lots of riders, before we're willing to invest in it? It makes more sense to acknowledge that public transit benefits everyone, riders or not, and that everyone should support it, both financially as well as through policies and priorities.
Steep drops in ridership and the elimination of fare payments have caused huge revenue losses, but the need to keep operating buses and trains to get essential workers to their jobs did not diminish.