clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Have you contributed to the dip in NYC subway ridership?

New, 22 comments

Sound off in the comments

Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Welcome to Friday Open Threads, wherein we'll pass the mic to readers to speak up about topics of interest, distress, horror, etc. Have something you want discussed? Let us know.

The MTA’s ridership numbers for 2016 are in, and apparently, New Yorkers aren’t taking the subway as much as they used to. As we reported earlier this week, ridership numbers dipped for the first time since 2009: 1.756 billion subway trips were taken last year, a drop of about six million rides from 2015.

Interestingly, the dip was mostly during weekend service: According to the New York Times, “weekday ridership was at its highest level since 1948, but weekend ridership fell about 3 percent”—which will come as no surprise to anyone who’s lived off a line where Sandy-related repairs have shut it down entirely, or where service changes are all but a given every weekend.

The fact that many subway stations are in crappy shape, and delays (and overcrowding) have gotten worse, also isn’t helping matters much. Transit officials, of course, are also placing blame on outside sources—namely, Uber, Lyft, and other ride-sharing apps, as well as Citi Bike, which had its own record year for ridership.

With all that in mind, we’re curious: Are you taking the subway less? Have the constant service changes and/or the often terrible conditions underground affected how often you ride the rails? Or do you simply prefer the convenience of Lyft, or the expanded Citi Bike network? Let us know in the comments—and be sure to tell us why you’re taking the subway less, if that’s the case.