New York, NY – New York City’s subways had five days of record ridership last month, and those in charge of the public transportation system have seized on the increased usage to push their multibillion-dollar capital plan.
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The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Wednesday that the subway system broke its single-day ridership record on five days last month.
MTA figures show that 6,106,694 customers rode city subways on Sept. 23, the highest number since daily figures were first recorded in 1985.
Ridership also topped 6 million on four other days last month, surpassing the previous ridership record of 5,987,595 set Oct. 24, 2013.
“New Yorkers and visitors alike continue to vote with their feet, recognizing that riding the subway is the most efficient way to get around town,” MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas Prendergast said.
The MTA says subway ridership is approaching levels last seen in the 1940s when far fewer people owned cars and many customers were counted twice as they transferred between different systems.
Prendergast said the numbers show why New York state officials must approve the MTA’s $32 billion, five-year capital plan, which includes funding for a new East Side subway line on Second Avenue and other upgrades such as more countdown clocks that let riders know when to expect a train.
A state review board vetoed the capital program, and the MTA must now revise the plan and resubmit it. The authority has identified funding sources to pay for only half of the capital program and is lobbying for more from the state.
John Raskin, executive director of the Riders Alliance, a transit advocacy group, said the boost in subway ridership should spur state lawmakers to agree to pay for improvements.
“If we don’t continue to invest in our system and build for the future, these strong numbers could represent a peak instead of a trend,” Raskin said. “It’s vital that our elected officials find the funding needed to support the entire $32 billion capital plan, which represents the least we can do to maintain our system so it can last for years into the future.”
If NY wants to know what a real upscale state of the art subway system should look like they should model it after the Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing or Guangzhou subway systems especially in terms of cleanliness besides having bathrooms on all platforms, and elevators plus escalators. In addition there is a glass barrier which seperates the platform from the tracks and only opens when the train arrives. In addition the signage are all in English which is clearer than the English signs in the NY subway.
The actual cars are spotless and seats more comfortable, and no graffiti at all on the entire system!
And yet ,the MTA wants ,& will raise fares ,& tolls .How does that figure ?????
The subways are more crowded and dirty than ever. Yet at the same time the MTA cuts important express bus routes like the X-29, while at the same time runs 3/4 empty express buses to Bay Ridge (X-27) and Bensonhurst (X-28).
Maybe its because our new mayor is dropping the speed limit to 25 MPH & setting up speed & red light cameras all over town, that people are sick and tired of receiving summonses in the mail, that they figure its more economical to take the subway.
More riders= more $$$. Hence forth less govt funding and no need to raise fairs. Dream on I guess
The reason that the subway is more crowded is that there are more people living in NYC. Just look around and see how many new apartment buildings have opened in the past few years.
The infrastructure of NYC is not keeping up with the population growth of the city. No one is talking about water and sewage. They will be the next to be stressed.
So New York’s successive leftist governments and bureaucracies made it all but impossible for most residents to commute in their automobiles as civilized men. And now one of their hunta has a gall to say “New Yorkers and visitors alike continue to vote with their feet, recognizing that riding the subway is the most efficient way to get around town.” Reminds me of what Margaret Thatcher, by far greater leader than Britain will ever produce again, said: “The governments first break your legs, then hand you a pair of crutches and then say ‘See, without us you couldn’t walk.'”
So welcome to the Third World, New York! Your decent residents are now forced to commute about an hour each way, confined in ever tighter environments surrounded by men of very different backgrounds and very divergent ideas of personal hygiene. And no, I am not talking about rodents.
That odor you all experience during your commute? That’s the wonderful aroma of progress!
6,107,000 million riders and that doesn’t include the other million that sneak in.
Wake up and get the hell out of NYC.