Commuters on board a stopped 7 train and walking on a platform in Queens on Oct. 22, 2024.
Photo by Dean Moses
The MTA set a new post-pandemic subway ridership record with a seven-day high of 26.8 million riders between Monday, Sept. 8 and Sunday, Sept. 14, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The milestone shows New Yorkers are still using the subway system despite reports of high-profile crimes occurring on the rails.
Hochul, whose office oversees the state-run MTA, said the subways recorded more than four million riders every weekday, making it a first since the COVID-19 pandemic more than five years ago.
Delving into the stats, the agency’s NYC Transit recorded 4.1 million riders on the subway on Monday; 4.44 million on Tuesday; 4.48 million on Wednesday; 4.51 million on Thursday; and 4.2 million riders on Friday.
Subway ridership surge sign of ‘real progress’
“The subway is New York City’s lifeblood, and when ridership is growing, it means even more New Yorkers are going to work, to school, to shop, and to take advantage of everything this city has to offer,” the governor said in a statement. “We’ve made real progress in the subway system delivering more service with increased reliability and by improving safety and reducing crime. This is what New Yorkers expect and deserve: a safe and reliable ride. By continuing to improve what matters to riders, I look forward to even more record weeks to come.”
NYPD data shows subway crime in NYC is decreasing, even as the city was hit hard by a handful of violent, high-profile incidents so far this month. Despite the decrease, there is still an active recidivist population on the rails, with around 63 subway offenders that each have at least 50 transit arrests, according to police sources.
As of Sept. 10, this group had made 5,229 subway arrests, but only five of these criminals are currently in custody.
The milestone in subway ridership also follows “strong performance,” MTA officials said, with weekday on-time rates in August hitting 85.2%.
Access-A-Ride paratransit service continues to experience ridership growth, officials said, setting a milestone of the “highest monthly total ridership of all time in August” and a new single-day record on Wednesday, Sept. 10, with 46,875 scheduled trips.
“With a new and improved bus network in Queens and historic subway on-time performance and paratransit ridership in August, it’s no surprise we’re already breaking records in September,” Demetrius Crichlow, president of NYC Transit, said in a statement. “NYC Transit will continue to deliver safe, reliable, and fast service and I look forward to bringing this incredible momentum into the fall.”
MTA officials said more riders are using their phones, debit/credit cards, and OMNY cards to pay for their rides. During the week of Sept. 8, 81% of riders used the contactless system to board the rails.