Subway Ridership Tops One Million Mark Tuesday

MTA New York City Transit announced that ridership on the subway system surpassed one million people per day or the first time since March, as Phase 2 of reopening began in the city on Monday. Subway ridership hit 1,047,493 on Tuesday, June 23.  Buses reached the million-rider milestone on Friday, June 19, with bus ridership increasing again June 23 to 1,081,934 taking local and express buses that day.

Ridership on subways has been down over 80% from the same time last year.

Weekday subway service is being delivered with regular schedules, and buses with regular closed-school schedules, providing maximum capacity for current and anticipated ridership in line with New York’s phased reopening strategy.

“We are welcoming customers back into a system that is cleaner than it has ever been, and we are ready for the increases that Phase 2 will bring,” said Sarah Feinberg, Interim President for New York City Transit.  “Our riders are noticing our how clean our subway cars and stations really are and we are laser focused on continuing the most aggressive cleaning and disinfection program in our history to ensure the safety of everyone in our system.”

“We have worked hard to continuously disinfect our buses to make sure customers and employees feel safe as ridership comes back to the system,” said Craig Cipriano, Acting President of the MTA Bus Company and Acting Senior Vice President of the NYC Transit Department of Buses. “Buses have been disinfected more than 210,000 times since March and we are not letting up — our efforts continue, and we improve every single day.”

The milestones represent about 19% of the normal pre-pandemic subway ridership of more than 5.4 million people and 50% of the normal pre-pandemic bus ridership of more than 2.1 million people.

Subways and buses both reached their lowest point in weekday ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic on Monday, April 13, with 365,835 subway riders and 347,790 bus riders on that day.

On June 5, the MTA announced its 13-point Action Plan for A Safe Return as New York City entered Phase 1  — which included a combination of increased service, continuous cleaning and disinfecting, enhanced safety and security across the system and innovative technology to make the system safer.

On June 8, subways returned to regular weekday service and buses returned to regular weekday closed-school service in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island, with 75% of regular service in Manhattan.

Customers coming back will find NYC Transit is leading the way internationally with its safety initiatives to protect both employees and customers.

All customers must wear a face covering while riding on public transit.

To date, the MTA has made available 1.4 million masks provided by the State and the City to its customers who can pick one up as they enter the system. Additionally, thus far, the MTA has distributed 700,000 mini-bottles of NYS Clean Hand Sanitizer to its customers. Hand sanitizer dispensers are also placed in stations across the subway system.

Decals and floor markings with cues to encourage social distancing have also been placed in subway stations.

The MTA will continue with rear-door boarding on local buses until further notice to ensure the safety of its operating employees and of customers, and a four-hour overnight subway closure allows for the unprecedented cleaning and disinfection program underway on train cars and in stations.]