© Richard B. Levine
NEW YORK (77WABC) — New York Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the New York City’s MTA has provided one billion trips this year.
The billionth customer was identified as Sasha Salazar of the Bronx the Bronx — who caught a train at the 161 St-Yankee Stadium 4 station Tuesday morning.
“We have been working hard to bring customers back by providing safer, cleaner, and faster service, and hitting one billion riders in 2022 is evidence that our work is paying off,” Hochul said in a press release. “New Yorkers and tourists alike continue to flock to the subway, proving there is no better way to get around New York City than mass transit.”
This marks the first time the NYC subway system has carried one billion customers in a calendar year since 2019. The subway carried 760 million customers in 2021 and 640 million in 2020.
According to the Governor’s office, average daily subway ridership is around 60% of 2019’s pre-pandemic levels, when the system carried nearly 1.7 billion riders.
“Every New Yorker uses the subway every day and I know that we appreciate the MTA, all the workers that work for the MTA especially,” Salazar said in the release.
The MTA has recorded strong ridership growth in all agencies in 2022. Through October 31, subway ridership is up nearly 39% over similar year-to-date data for 2021 and buses are up over 13%. Metro-North train ridership is also up nearly 66%, the Long Island Rail Road is up almost 57% and the Staten Island Railway is up 47.0%.
The release also says Access-A-Ride is up over 11% and traffic on MTA Bridges and Tunnels is up 7%.
