New York City's bus, subway ridership reaches highest point since start of coronavirus pandemic

By Erik Bascome, Staten Island Advance

(MCT)

With school back in session and thousands of workers returning to the office, ridership on New York City's transit system has reached levels not seen since before the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The MTA announced that on Tuesday, Sept. 14, the city's buses and subways combined to carry over 4.2 million riders, the highest number since March 2020.

"This is amazing news," said acting MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber. "New Yorkers are resuming all sorts of normal activities. They're going to restaurants, they're going to ballgames, they're returning to school. And they trust the MTA to get them where they're going."

The city's subway system carried over 2.9 million riders on Tuesday, more than 100,000 more than the previous "pandemic-era" record, while MTA buses handled approximately 1.3 million riders.

Tuesday, which was the second-consecutive day that the MTA set "pandemic-era" ridership records, marked the first time since March 2020 that combined ridership on the city's buses and subways surpassed 4 million.

On Monday, the city's subways handled approximately 2.77 million riders, while bus ridership reached about 1.19 million, resulting in a combined ridership of 3.96 million.

"The pandemic-era records we've seen the last couple days speak to the tremendous efforts our employees have undertaken to make sure the system is safe and accommodating for our customers," said New York City Transit Interim President Craig Cipriano.

Despite the rising totals, MTA ridership remains about half of what it was prior to the pandemic, according to MTA data.

The 2.77 million subway riders on Monday was still 51.2% less than the pre-pandemic equivalent day, while the 1.19 million bus riders represented a 50% decrease.

However, MTA officials said they are optimistic that these numbers will continue to climb in the coming weeks.

"As more and more New Yorkers continue to return to work and school, I'm confident that ridership will continue to increase. Public transit remains the best way to get around New York City, and returning customers will be greeted with an improved system," said MTA Chief Customer Officer Sarah Meyer.

The agency's commuter rails — the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad — have also set "pandemic-era" ridership records in recent days.

On Friday, Sept. 10, the Long Island Rail Road handled a record 151,000 riders, with the Metro-North Railroad setting its ridership record on Monday, Sept. 13, with 122,000 riders.

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