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Subway ridership reaches new high on 4/20
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Apr 21, 2023
Modified Apr 21, 2023
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By
Catalina Gonella
Published Apr 21, 2023
Modified Apr 21, 2023
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For the first time since the start of the pandemic, the MTA’s subway ridership hit 4 million paid trips in one day, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced.
The city’s subway system recorded 4,002,961 rides on Thursday, April 20 — the first time it surpassed 4 million since March 12, 2020, which was days before the city shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The OMNY contactless payment system also set a single-day record with 1,699,914 taps, accounting for 42.5% of all paid rides.
“The MTA is the lifeblood of this city, and New York State has made critical investments in our subways to improve the rider experience,” Governor Hochul said in a statement Friday.
As a maintenance worker, straphanger Patrick Whyte rode the subway through the entirety of the pandemic. He said he remembers the time when there were only a handful of people in a train car at most, and he’s noticed the increased ridership.
“It's getting better,” he said, getting off the Franklin Avenue stop in Brooklyn. “It's gonna take a little while, but it's gonna come back.”
Although it was a milestone of sorts, Thursday's record is still more than a million rides below average daily pre-pandemic numbers. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, subway ridership was regularly above 5.5 million, according to the MTA. But in April 2020, it dropped to roughly 300,000 rides a day as the city went into lockdown and office workers were allowed to work from home.
Crown Heights resident Peter Durando was one subway rider who was able to work remotely through the height of the pandemic. He began commuting to his Midtown office job again last year, but typically only for three to four days a week.
He said he was very surprised at how empty it is sometimes and had noticed a difference in rush hour traffic.
“I'm glad to see it's getting back on track,” Durando said. “The city definitely needs people. Manhattan, especially without people, is not as great as it used to be.”
The dip in ridership sent the MTA into a financial tailspin that it is still digging its way out of, even with billions of dollars in emergency federal funding.
This story has been updated to include comment from commuters.
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COVID-19
MTA
subway
Catalina Gonella
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