NYC subway ridership continues its decline for the second year

For the second year in a row, ridership is down on the city’s subway system. Last year marked the first drop in service since 2009 and in 2017, the spiral continued.

According to the MTA’s numbers, there were 1.727 billion trips taken last year, compared to 1.756 million taken in 2016, indicating that roughly 30 million fewer trips were taken, reports NY1 News.

In an interview with NY1 News, New York City Transit president Andy Byford noted that the steady decline in service could be for several reasons. An obvious one is the shoddy service that has plagued the system but another one is that the rise of ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft have given commuters more reliable alternatives. Despite this, MTA spokesperson Shams Tarek told Time Out New York that ridership is still near “record highs.”

Last June, Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency for the MTA and allocated an additional $1 billion in funding to the agency’s current capital plan. The MTA has been making improvements to reduce the number of major disruptions but it hasn’t done much to improve rider’s experiences thus far.

• Subway Ridership Down for Second Straight Year [NY1 News]
• NYC subway ridership dropped for the second straight year in 2017 [Time Out New York]
• MTA reports NYC subway ridership drops for the first time since 2009 [Curbed]
• Cuomo declares a ‘state of emergency’ for NYC subway [Curbed]
• MTA’s modest subway repairs haven’t made an impact on commuters yet [Curbed]