New York Subway Reaches One Billion Ride Milestone

The system’s 2024 performance is on track for its fastest growth since the pandemic.

1 minute read

November 6, 2024, 5:00 AM PST

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Busy New York City subway platform with blurred people walking in and out of trains and close-up on red brick wall on right.

Kits Pix / Adobe Stock

The New York City subway system hit one billion rides for the year, a good sign for a public transit system in an era when ridership continues to lag after pandemic-related disruptions.

According to an article by Ben Brachfeld in the Bronx Times, “September was the first month since the pandemic when average weekday ridership on the subway was over 4 million, a feat which was repeated in October.”

The MTA selected one passenger, Michael Carrasquillo, as the symbolic “billionth rider,” awarding him a month of free rides.

Brachfeld notes that “The subway has still not fully recovered from the pandemic days, when ridership plummeted as New Yorkers were told to stay home and stop the spread of the coronavirus. The MTA has blamed this on the normalization of working from home, even as auto traffic over MTA bridges and tunnels regularly exceeds pre-pandemic figures.”

Tuesday, November 5, 2024 in Bronx Times

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