Interestingly, it is not easy to find numbers on how many transit riders are commuters; rather, the surveys and statistics are all about things like the percent

Interestingly, it is not easy to find numbers on how many transit riders are commuters; rather, the surveys and statistics are all about things like the percentage of workers who commute by public transit. Malls are not typically places where transit riders are encouraged to park. In fact, I believe that anyone who isn't shopping in a store at a mall would be subject to having their vehicle towed. There is no designated transit parking in malls. There are, however, designated "Park and Ride" centers with dedicated parking spaces that are not used for anything else, and are patrolled by transit security. Riders need a transit pass to park here, and overnight parking is generally not possible. Malls want transit centers because they wish to attract more shoppers without cars, not clog their own lots with people who aren't shopping there. Capitalism, remember? Anyway, I can safely concede that commuting is the top usage of public transit because it seems to be assumed by the sources. However, I do see students at rush hour. The HS and university students have deals for passes, and so if I board the bus around 8am or 3pm, they are dominated by the HS students (for a very short ride). Around 5pm, plenty of university students are boarding, if I find myself on or near campus. Evening classes are becoming really popular now, so some are even coming in at that point, to attend a class from 6-9pm or so. In fact, there is a special class of passes for the university students; it was the first foray into NFC "tap" passes on the farebox. These students ride the train a lot, and they really crowd into the free neighborhood shuttles. To the point where some of the shuttle routes are practically exclusive for students, because, well, nobody who commutes to work rides a neighborhood shuttle because they hardly pass any places of employment. The main selling point of the neighborhood shuttles is that they connect riders from their neighborhood to the main transit system. That's the theory. But in practice, due to their lack of fare, the homeless will fill up any space not taken by students, and head to the library, or park, or whatever.