Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
The Most (And Least) Visited Subway Stops In New York Are...
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jun 7, 2011
Modified Jun 7, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jun 7, 2011
Modified Jun 7, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Subway ridership in 2010 was the second highest ever, but where were all those straphangers riding to and from? The MTA's recently released ridership facts and figures have the answers you seek.
Surprising nobody, the two busiest train stations in the city are Times Square (58,422,597 riders in 2010) and Grand Central (41,903,210 riders). 34th Street Herald Square, 14th Street, and 34th Street Penn Station rounded out the top five.
The biggest single jump in ridership in a station that wasn't recently reopened (i.e. Cortland Street) was the currently closed Elder Avenue stop on the 6 line, which saw its ridership jump 39 percent to 2,864,031 in 2010. The Roosevelt Island F station, which was dealing with a down Tram, also saw a massive jump of 37 percent in ridership in 2010 to 2,580,003 straphangers.
And for all you hipsters out there, the Bedford L stop saw a jump of 9.7 percent to 7,418,203 riders annually—making it the 46th busiest stop in the system. (But that doesn't mean it's not the MOST IMPORTANT!)
Out of 421 stations, the one with the lowest ridership was the Aqueduct Racetrack A stop where 29,644 people went through the turnstiles in 2010, up 9.8 percent from 2009!
There is a lot more info in there to digest, so go have fun with it. Or you can wait around and hope that somebody will make it into a neat data visualization.
Tagged
MTA
ridership data
statistics
subway
Garth Johnston
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Mamdani names re-entry specialist as chair of Rikers oversight board
Christopher Watler will help the department that a federal monitor says remains in crisis.
By
Ryan Kost
Published Oct 6, 2026 at 3:52 p.m. ET
NYC weighs expanding upstate reservoir following drought
The Delaware River Basin Commission is evaluating options to increase water storage, including expanding a reservoir in New York City.
By
Rosemary Misdary
News
NYC weighs expanding upstate reservoir following drought
The Delaware River Basin Commission is evaluating options to increase water storage, including expanding a reservoir in New York City.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Legionella found in Staten Island building's water system after 2 positive cases
By
Catalina Gonella
Legal 'loophole' helps NY Gov. Kathy Hochul, Bruce Blakeman raise millions
By
Jon Campbell
Police identify 2 men wanted for stabbing an off-duty NYPD officer
By
Ben Feuerherd
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .