NYC Subway ridership highest since 1948

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The NY MTA released 2015 ridership numbers for the NYC subway system with 1.763 billion rides total which is considerable growth since the low points of the 1970s and early 1980s. Subway ridership is steadily increasing along with the population of NYC (2015 Census estimate of 8.55 million). It is now routinely carrying 6 million passengers on weekdays and the system is not holding up to the demand.

MTA news release page: Highest Figures Since 1948. Starting excerpt:

Subway ridership is on an upward trend. Annual subway ridership increased 0.6% from 2014 to 2015 to 1.763 billion, the highest since 1948. Weekday ridership increased by 0.9% to 5.7 million, also the highest since 1948. Forty-nine weekdays in 2015 had over six million riders. Weekend subway ridership declined by 0.7% to 5.9 million, but is still among the highest since two-day weekends became nearly universal in the mid-20th century.

Weekday ridership changes were fairly evenly distributed by borough in 2015. Manhattan and Queens stations increased by 0.9 percent, matching the system-wide increase. Brooklyn station entries increased by 1.4, while Bronx stations increased by 0.3 percent.

The weekend numbers are Saturday and Sunday combined, BTW. The chart below shows how the subway system has become more heavily used on weekends than it used to be compared to weekdays, which means that more people are using it to get around the city rather than just to go to work at the 8 to 5 job.

WNYC short article on the ridership crunch with a handy chart of annual ridership numbers going back to 1941 for perspective: NYC Subway, We Love You, But You're Letting Us Down.