The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has set a new post-pandemic record for subway ridership, according to an announcement from Governor Kathy Hochul. Between Monday, September 8 and Sunday, September 14, the subway system saw 26.8 million rides, marking the highest seven-day total since the COVID-19 pandemic began. For the first time since the pandemic, more than four million riders used the subway each weekday during this period.
Daily ridership figures included 4.1 million on Monday, 4.44 million on Tuesday, 4.48 million on Wednesday, 4.51 million on Thursday, and 4.2 million on Friday. The MTA attributes this increase to improvements in service reliability and safety.
Governor Hochul said, “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. 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.”
Recent data shows that subway weekday on-time performance in August was at 85.2%, matching a previous high from May of this year and representing the best August performance in a decade. Transit crime also decreased by nearly 23% compared to August 2024, making last month the safest August recorded for the subway system.
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber commented on the surge in usage: “Back to school always brings a bump in ridership, but this one’s for the record books – MTA’s busiest week across almost all agencies since before the pandemic. It’s simple math: increased safety + top notch performance = huge transit turnout.”
New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow noted additional improvements: “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. New York City Transit will continue to deliver safe, reliable, and fast service and I look forward to bringing this incredible momentum into the fall.”
Bus ridership also reached its third highest weekly total since the pandemic with 9.3 million rides—a rise of about three percent over last year—and Access-a-Ride paratransit service achieved its highest monthly total ever in August as well as a single-day record of nearly 47,000 scheduled trips on September 10.
Access-A-Ride continues leading MTA’s recovery efforts with current ridership levels at 140% of pre-pandemic peaks; it now regularly surpasses 40,000 scheduled weekday trips—comparable to entire bus networks in cities like Charlotte or Cincinnati.
Commuter railroads have seen gains too: Metro-North Railroad averaged nearly 238,000 riders during weekdays—the highest five-day average since March 2020—while Long Island Rail Road posted its best five-day average since before the pandemic late last month with nearly 288,500 riders.
Both railroads have maintained strong on-time performance rates near or above 97% throughout this year.
Another trend highlighted by MTA is increased use of tap-and-go fare payment systems; during the week of September 8th, over four out of five riders paid fares using phones or contactless cards—a significant jump from earlier this year.
These milestones reflect continued growth for public transit usage across New York City as agencies report steady improvements in both service delivery and customer confidence.
