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NYC Mass Transit Ridership Plummets As Biking Surges During Coronavirus Outbreak
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Mar 13, 2020
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Liz Kim / Gothamist
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Mar 13, 2020
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It appears the public is heeding the call to avoid mass transit in NYC. The MTA reports an 18.65 percent drop in weekday subway ridership, compared to March 11th, 2019. There’s also a 15 percent drop in bus riders. On Metro-North, which runs through New Rochelle, there’s been a nearly 50 percent drop in ridership.
Despite the decline, the MTA expects to run regular service, along with regular sanitizing of all train cars, buses, stations and surfaces.
“I believe, short term deployment of some innovative, new and innovative technologies that I'm not ready to discuss on the call, but that I believe we'll be deploying in the days ahead that will provide even greater disinfectant protection,” MTA Chairman Pat Foye said, speaking on NY1 Friday. “So the system is safe for carrying millions of passengers and we're committed to doing that in the days and weeks and months ahead.”
On Friday, the Washington Metro announced it would be reducing service starting next Monday.
The MTA, so far, has said it will not be reducing service.
The drop in public transit use in NYC has been met with a nearly 50 percent increase in cycling across city bridges, according to the Department of Transportation.
Citi Bike is seeing a 67 percent increase in rides compared to last year, however it also has more bikes available than last year as well, including e-bikes.
NJ Transit reports a roughly 20 percent decline in riders on its trains and buses.
As for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, car traffic doesn’t appear to have changed much this week at the bridge and tunnels. But it’s also seeing double digit declines on its mass transit.
“Based on a preliminary review of the raw data available for the first three week days of this week (March 9-11), the number of vehicles crossing Port Authority bridges and tunnels was comparable to the prior week. PATH ridership for the first three weekdays of this week (March 9-11) is approximately 18% below the first three weekdays of last week (March 2-4),” a Port Authority spokesperson said.
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Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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