New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York City subway reached 2.11 million riders on Nov 6, surpassing the previous pandemic-era Sunday ridership record set on June 26, 2022, of 2.01 million and 84 percent of the pre-pandemic baseline for the comparable second Sunday of November in 2019. The ridership was 12 percent more than last year's marathon Sunday subway ridership of 1.89 million and 13 percent more than the previous Sunday ridership of 1.88 million.
"With record-setting weekend ridership in each of the last three weeks, our public transit's recovery from the darkest days of the pandemic is staying on track," Hochul said. "Commuters, students, tourists and marathon runners all know the best way to get around New York City is our transit system. Riders are continuing to come back to the subway, and we're investing in cops, cameras and care to ensure our riders get the best possible experience throughout the system."
The record-breaking Sunday, on the day of the 51st running of the New York City Marathon, was preceded by yet another Saturday post-pandemic record. On the eve of the NYC Marathon, 2.45 million people rode the subway, surpassing last Saturday's record of 2.44 million. In addition to the third straight record-day on the subways Saturday, paratransit also set a record, as they carried 100 percent of its pre-pandemic baseline with 16,800 scheduled trips.
The records come on the day MTA officials had announced plans to reduce planned maintenance-related service changes in the subway system to ensure New Yorkers could move around the city with minimal disruptions on marathon Sunday.
"This city and region are built on the success of mass transit," MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said. "You always hear me say it's like air and water for New Yorkers, but it's true. I never doubted the NYC Transit team would get it done."
"The best way to travel through New York City on Marathon Sunday is on the subway, and New York City Transit planned ahead to minimize planned service changes due to track work on a projected busy Sunday for the transit system, and these ridership results show the decision was worth it," New York City Transit President Richard Davey said. "The reduction in planned service changes helped encourage ridership, and it also means that those who rode the system had a faster and more reliable trip."
"With 50,000 runners and millions of spectators lining the course, the TCS New York City Marathon depends on the MTA to help ensure everyone has a great experience. New York Road Runners appreciates the MTA's partnership to ensure race day runs as smoothly as possible, so runners and spectators can get around the city and bring their energy to this world class event," Kerin Hempel, CEO, New York Road Runners said.
